HARRISBURG – Dauphin County Bureau of Registration and Elections staff announced that 15,775 requested mail-in and absentee ballots were delivered to the U.S. Post Office on Crooked Hill Road today and that those ballots should start arriving at homes as early as Friday.

In anticipation of these ballots reaching voters, a ballot drop box was placed outside the Second Street entrance of the county building at 2 S. Second St. on Wednesday, Sept. 27, to continue serving those in the downtown area. The 24-hour secure drop box is in the same location as it had been since 2021.

The county’s Northern Dauphin County Human Services Center, 295 State Dr. in Elizabethville, will serve as a Ballot Return Site from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in the lead-up to the Election and until 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7. County staff will be on hand to accept completed ballots. Voters also may submit registration forms and absentee and mail-in ballot request forms that will be delivered directly to the election office.

To give voters options and convenience to return ballots, the elections office at 1251 S. 28^th St. will extend hours until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, beginning Monday, Oct. 23 and continuing through Monday, Nov. 6. On Tuesday, Nov. 7, voters can return voted ballots until 8 p.m.

Voters needing to process over-the-counter ballots may do so only at the Dauphin County Registration and Elections office at 1251 S. 28^th St., Harrisburg.

Dauphin County election officials remind voters to carefully review and follow instructions on how to complete mail-in or absentee ballots to ensure that they counted and not set aside:

-        Once the voter has marked his or her ballot, insert it in the envelope marked OFFICIAL ELECTION BALLOT, which is called the privacy envelope;

-        Insert sealed privacy envelope into the return envelope and then make sure to sign AND put the date in the space provided on the back of the return envelope under the Voter’s Declaration;

-        If mailing the ballot to the election office, make sure to place first-class postage on the front of the return envelope. No postage is necessary if placed into the drop box or hand delivered to the election office; and

-        According to Pennsylvania election law, voters may only return their own ballots. You may not return someone else’s voted ballot, even if it is for a spouse or family member.

Additionally, voters are reminded of the following important deadlines:

• The last day to register to vote is Oct. 23.
• The last day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is Oct. 31.
• The deadline to return voted ballots is 8 p.m. Nov. 7.
  

Sample ballots will be posted online at DauphinCounty.gov starting Monday.

For more information about voting in Dauphin County, including sample ballots for all 159 precincts, go to www.DauphinCounty.gov and click “Registration & Elections,” or call 717-780-6360.