166K Bucks Co. Mail-In, Absentee Ballots Are On Their Way

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The roughly 166,000 mail-in and absentee ballots that had been requested in Bucks County through last week are on their way to the voters who requested them.

The ballots, for the Nov. 3 General Election, should arrive in plenty of time to be cast before Election Day, according to county officials.

"If your ballot hasn’t arrived yet, don’t panic – it’s on the way," officials said in a social media post.

Meanwhile on Monday, voters were lining up at Bucks County's three official drop boxes to begin returning those ballots, opting to hand them off in person rather than putting them back in the mail. A photo shared by the Bucks County government showed voters waiting to drop off ballots Monday at the county government complex in Doylestown.

RELATED: Key 2020 Voting Deadlines In Pennsylvania

Currently, the ballot drop boxes — in Doylestown, Levittown and Quakertown — are open from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on weekdays. They will be open for extended hours, and on weekends, starting Oct. 27.

The county was reminding voters who return their ballots in drop boxes to follow instructions carefully, sealing ballots first in the privacy envelope, then into the return envelope. The return envelop must be signed and information on it filled out.

Monday also was the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania.

You may get an application to register at the Pennsylvania Voter Services website. The deadline to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot is Oct. 27. They must be received by your county election office by 5 p.m. that day.

In Bucks County, much like other places throughout Pennsylvania and elsewhere, the popularity of mail-in and absentee voting has skyrocketed in 2020 due to concerns about in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic.

The county received about 78,000 votes by mail in this year's June primaries, compared to about 6,000 ballots by mail in the last presidential primary in 2016. Officials in Bucks and elsewhere have petitioned the state legislature for help counting those ballots quicker, saying that, under current voting laws, the county may not have final returns for days after the election.