With less than one week left until election day, U.S. Postal Service and local election officials are in agreement that if you still have a mail-in or absentee ballot that you wish to cast in the upcoming general election you should bring it to the Adams County Courthouse in Gettysburg rather than mailing it.
You can hand-deliver your ballot to the drop-box located inside the lobby of the Adams County Courthouse at 111 Baltimore St. in Gettysburg.
The courthouse is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will remain open until 8:00 p.m. on election day.
Gettysburg borough has provided free short-term parking spaces in front of the courthouse for your convenience.
“The Postal Service continues to recommend that, as a common sense measure, nonmilitary voters in the United States who choose to vote by mail should mail their completed ballots at least one week prior to your state’s deadline,” said USPS spokesperson Desai Abdul-Razzaaq.
The Adams County Elections Office agrees: “I would recommend dropping off your ballot at this time,” said Director of Elections & Voter Registration Angie Crouse.
Crouse said on Thursday that approximately 5,000 of the 21,000 mail-in ballots that had been mailed to voters had not yet been received by the elections office.
Mail-in ballots must be postmarked no later than Tuesday, Nov 3 to be counted. The county will try to process ballots that are received as late as 5:00 p.m. on the Friday after Election Day.
If you have already cast your mail-in ballot, you may not vote at the polls.
If you applied for a mail-in ballot, but have not cast it and want to vote at the polls instead, you must bring your uncast mail-in ballot and both envelopes to the polls to be voided. Once your mail-in ballot is voided, you will be given a regular ballot to vote. If you forget your mail-in ballot and/or envelopes, you will only receive a provisional ballot at the polls.
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.
