Absentee ballots now available in Mercer County

Staff report

MERCER, PA.

Mercer County has received absentee ballots for the Nov. 5 municipal election and will begin mailing them shortly to voters who have applied.

The deadline to apply is Oct. 29. Completed ballots must be received by the Bureau of Elections no later than Nov. 1.

Voters are reminded that applications for absentee ballots have changed since the partial implementation of the Voter ID law in 2012.

Although the in-person voting portion of the new law is being litigated in state court, the absentee portion of the law was not challenged last year and is being enforced, said Jeffrey Greenburg, director of elections.

The new trifold applications, which are white with blue print, differ greatly from the old and much smaller postcard-like applications.

The new application requires voters to provide a Pennsylvania driver’s license or ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number if they don’t have a state identification number.

They are available online at www.votespa.com, or at the courthouse and most local post offices, municipal buildings and libraries.

Greenburg added that county voters can now preview their ballot for the general election by precinct by going to the county website at www.mcc.co.mercer.pa.us.

Click on Voter Registration/Election and then View Your General Election Ballot.

Then select the appropriate precinct to see a copy of your touch-screen ballot, he said.