CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield County Election Office has received many calls and inquiries from confused voters concerning various information being disseminated by news, Facebook and third-party organizations.
To follow is information from the county office to resolve some of the confusion.
- Election Day is Nov. 5t and polling locations are open from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- People are invited and encouraged to apply for their absentee/mail-in ballots now; election staff are processing these applications daily. However, they do not have an official ballot at this time, as they are awaiting the Department of State to certify the candidates for the ballot. Also, it was noted that there may be legal challenges to candidates, which may delay the printing of ballots.
- Election staff hope to have an official ballot by the beginning of October 2024.
- Voters may receive a lot of blank absentee/mail-in applications (these are not ballots) from various voter groups or campaigns. If you want an absentee/mail-in ballot, you only need to fill out one application per election. You can call the county office and staff can check your voter record to see if you have already applied. You can also check by going to the Department of State Web site: Voter Registration Status (pa.gov)
- If someone will be leaving town and is unsure whether election staff will have ballots prior to their departure, they can call the county office and staff will update them on the best course of action.
- There is also a misconception that Pennsylvania has “early voting.” Traditional “early voting” is when a ballot is cast prior to Election Day. Pennsylvania does not have “early voting” but does have absentee and mail-in voting that can be conducted via mail, or visiting the county office and filling out the absentee/mail-in application and voting at the counter. Once again, please check with office staff first to make sure they have an official ballot available.
- The date of Sept. 16, 2024 has been put out there as the first day you can receive an absentee/mail-in ballot. This is actually the first day to “legally” apply. Election staff have been accepting applications and processing them regularly. However, they do not have a ballot at this time, and do not expect to have one before the beginning of October.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the county office via phone at 814-765-2642, ext. 5053, or via e-mail at elections@clearfieldco.org.
“Our hope is to combat disinformation/misinformation that is being shared and to provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive information for the voters of Clearfield County,” states county election staff.