Voter registration deadline approaches for Nov. 5 general election

New voters, or those who want to change their political affiliation before the Nov. 5 general election, have until Monday, Oct. 7, to handle these tasks.
Anyone who has moved or changed names since the last election must notify the local elections office by Oct. 7 or use the website www.votespa.com.
The Washington County elections office will remain open Oct. 7 until 5 p.m., a half-hour later than its usual hours, to accommodate those who plan to register in person or hand-deliver registration forms. Elections offices in Fayette and Greene counties will be closing at their usual times, 4:30 p.m.
Applicants who have a driver’s license or PennDOT identification card can link the signature on file with the State Department of Transportation to the voter record. Those who do not have a Pennsylvania driver’s license or identification card can upload a digital image of their signature or print, sign and mail the completed online application to the local elections office.
The Fayette County office is located at 22 E. Main St., Uniontown. In Washington County, the address is 100 W. Beau St., Suite 206, Washington.
The address of the Greene County elections office is 93 E. High St., First Floor, Waynesburg.
Qualifications to vote include being a U.S.citizen and a resident of Pennsylvania and the election district at least 30 days before an election. Eligible voters must be 18 years old or older on or before the election.
Meanwhile, elections offices in Pennsylvania are receiving requests for absentee ballots online for the first election since the state launched an online application.
Forty percent of Washington County’s absentee ballot applications had arrived online by midday Monday, while in Greene County, they accounted for just under 13%. Fayette County’s numbers were unavailable on Tuesday. Officials said those totals would not be available until after the Nov. 5 election.
Previously, Pennsylvanians could only print an application from the votespa.com website, which they would have to fill out by hand and mail or drop off at a county elections office.
The online application site, aimed at making voting more convenient and increasing voter participation, is votesPA.com/ApplyAbsentee. It has been in use since Sept. 16. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29.
For those who wait until the last minute, the turnaround time is just three days. Voters must still mail or hand-deliver their completed ballot to their county election office by the deadline, which is 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1. In Pennsylvania, the law requires that absentee ballots be in county elections offices by that time. Ballots postmarked Nov. 1 but received at elections offices after the deadline are not eligible to be counted, according to the state Election Code of 1937.
Absentee ballots may be cast by individuals with illnesses or disabilities, individuals who will be away from their municipality on business on Election Day and Pennsylvania students attending out-of-state colleges or universities, among others.