Voters in the Pennsylvania county targeted by Harris and Trump have one more day to cast their ballots early

DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania – Voters in a hard-fought suburban Philadelphia county sought by presidential candidates had their last chance Friday to seek the nomination postal voting.

The court gave Bucks County voters a deadline of 5 p.m. to request and receive an absentee ballot.

The three-day extension was granted in response to a lawsuit that alleged voters were disenfranchised when they were turned away by county processing offices that had closed. The lawsuit was filed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee and Republican Senate candidate David McCormick.

Office deadlines and closings led to long queues and confusion among some voters who believed that, just like at polling stations on election day, they had the right to vote if they stood in line until the polling station closed. However, county election offices are not official polling places and officials have posted weekend closing times as early as 2 p.m.

Unlike other states, Pennsylvania does not have true early in-person voting. Voters can apply for a mail-in ballot in advance online or in person at county election buildings.

In-person pickup can take about 12 minutes and requires applying for an absentee ballot, waiting for a barcoded envelope to be printed, and then, if the voter so desires, can vote on-site. Or they can put it in a mailbox or mailbox. Election offices must receive ballots by Tuesday. 20.00; The state says a postmark is not sufficient until then.

No-excuse absentee voting is relatively new in Pennsylvania. In 2019, the Legislature passed an expansion of this practice. In 2020, Trump – without any evidence to support this claim – claimed that mail-in voting was rife with fraud, discouraging many Republicans from voting by mail. That changed this year thanks to Trump and billionaire business tycoon Elon Musk supporting this practice and urging supporters to vote by mail early.

Pennsylvania is the biggest and most vote-rich battleground state this year, and by far the most visits from Trump and Harris. The state narrowly supported Trump in 2016 and flipped to Biden in 2020. In 2016, Bucks County voted for Hillary Clinton by one point before Biden extended the Democratic lead to five points in 2020.