BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Democrats continue to dominate Pennsylvania's mail-in ballot voting method, which could give the party an advantage in November should the long-standing pattern hold.
State data shows that 895,166 Pennsylvanians successfully requested a mail-in or absentee ballot for the April 23 primary. Tuesday, April 16, was the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot.
More than 72% of those are going to registered Democrats while about 26% are going to registered Republicans. The remainder are going to third-party or non-affiliated voters who may be eligible to vote on local referendum questions.
Democrats have dominated mail-in ballots since Pennsylvania reformed its election laws in December 2019.
Although Republican lawmakers embraced the new voting method then, the party turned on it after then-President Donald Trump leveled baseless claims that they are prone to fraud. Trump has voted by absentee ballot for years, which go through the same authentication process as mail-in ballots.
Voting methods shouldn't matter much in the primary, where party members select their candidates for the general election. But the mail-in ballots can tip the scales in November.
"This is the first hundred yards of scaling Mount Everest."Arnaud Armstrong, Win Again PAC
Instead of having a few hours on Election Day to cast a ballot, people voting by mail have days or weeks to pick for their preferred ballot. Some of those voters might not have otherwise been able to vote due to family, work or travel obligations.
Political observers say differences like that may be enough to swing the outcome of a competitive race.
For over a year, Win Again PAC has been working to get low-propensity conservative voters in Pennsylvania to adopt mail-in ballots. Arnaud Armstrong, its executive director, said they've seen modest improvements.
Two years ago, there were 3.4 Democratic mail-in voters in Pennsylvania for every Republican mail-in voter. As of Tuesday, that figure has fallen to 2.75 Democrats for every Republican.
"This is the first hundred yards of scaling Mount Everest," Armstrong said.
Mail-in ballots must be returned to the county by 8 p.m. April 23 or they will not be counted. Election officials encourage voters to either mail back their ballots as soon as possible or return them in person or at an approved drop box.
Lehigh County drop boxes are at the following locations:
- Lehigh County Government Center at 17 S. 7th St., Allentown. It is accessible at all hours.
- Fountain Hill Borough Building at 941 Long St., Fountain Hill from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.
- Lehigh County Authority Building at 1053 Spruce Road, Lower Macungie Township from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on weekdays.
- Macungie Borough Building at 21 Locust St., Macungie from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.
- Whitehall Township Building at 3219 MacArthur Road in Whitehall from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
Northampton County voters' drop boxes are at:
- Bethlehem City Hall at 10 E. Church St., Bethlehem from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
- Northampton Community College's Fowler Family Southside Center at 511 E. Third St., Bethlehem from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Fridays and from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
- Northampton County Human Services Building at 2801 Emrick Blvd., Bethlehem Township from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
- East Allen Township Municipal Building at 5344 Nor Bath Blvd., East Allen Township from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays.
- Northampton County Courthouse at 669 Washington St, Easton from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays.
- Northampton County 911 Center at 100 Gracedale Ave., Upper Nazareth Township from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays.
- Washington Township Municipal Building at 1021 Washington Blvd., Washington Township from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays.
State absentee and mail-in ballot data
Lehigh County
Total requested - 26,515
Democratic requested - 19,093 (72.0%)
Republican requested - 7,186 (27.1%)
Other requested - 236 (0.9%)
Northampton County *
Total requested — 26,550
Democratic requested — 19,717 (74.3%)
Republican requested — 6,825 (25.7%)
Other requested* — 8 (Less than 0.1%)
Pennsylvania
Total requested — 895,166
Democratic requested — 650,260 (72.6%)
Republican requested — 236,133 (26.4%)
Other requested — 8,773 (1.0%)
*Northampton County election officials say these totals from the state are slightly off. There are no referendum questions in the county, so no ballots have been mailed to third-party or non-affiliated voters, they said. State officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
