Voters attempting to vote early at the Lancaster County Elections office were met by lines that stretched out the door and out onto the sidewalk earlier this week.
Tuesday was the last day to apply for a mail-in ballot and take advantage of Pennsylvania’s version of early in-person voting for this year’s presidential election. Voters from across Lancaster county – many voting early for the first time – attempted to cast their ballot through an unfamiliar process.
Vanessa Zimmerman of Lancaster city had been expecting to vote by mail. After she requested a mail-in-ballot and it failed to arrive, she contacted the United States Postal Service only to find out that the ballot had been sent to her old address. Zimmerman requested a new ballot on October 15, but two weeks later it had still failed to arrive.
On Monday, Zimmerman came to the county elections office to make sure her vote is counted.
“It was just getting too close and I didn’t want to risk it,” Zimmerman said, noting that she was worried about the outcome of November’s election.
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Her story was not uncommon among the voters gathered at the elections office Monday and Tuesday for early voting. Many had never done in-person early voting and were pushed toward this method by circumstances or a distrust of mail-in voting.
Jim Hillard of East Hempfield is scheduled to go into surgery on Election Day, Nov. 5, making early voting a necessity. The long lines for early voting, which lasted for two to three hours at times on Monday, wouldn’t deter him from casting his ballot.
“You don’t want to miss this election,” Hillard said.
Loree and Russell Proops left the election office without voting Monday afternoon after being told it could take up to three hours to cast their ballots.
The Proops are new to voting in Pennsylvania, having moved to Ephrata from New Jersey in July and were surprised that there was only one location in the county to vote early or drop off a mail-in ballot.
“I just wasn’t prepared for having one place to vote,” Russell Proops said of voting for the first time in Lancaster County.
The couple said that being new to the area and unfamiliar with Lancaster city made the process more confusing, but said they planned to return Tuesday prepared to vote.
It was not an uncommon experience. With street parking in downtown Lancaster limited to two hours during the week and wait times to vote lasting longer than that, voters from outside the city worried they might be ticketed as they waited to vote Monday.
On Tuesday, the last day for in-person early voting, the wait times were dramatically diminished.
Most voters who spoke with LNP | Lancaster Online Tuesday reported wait times of 30 minutes or less and were complimentary of the election office staff.
“The people helping us were great,” said Kelly Pham of East Lampeter was voting early for the first time with her husband Nick Pham.
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Kelly Pham, from East Lampeter Township, talks about her experience with early in-person voting on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2024.
Kelly Pham said the process had been easy and the county’s staff had walked them through the steps needed to vote. Pham said she preferred this method of voting compared to voting on Election Day.
The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot for the general election ended at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and security at the Lancaster County Government Building were forced to turn people away who arrived shortly after that deadline. Voters already in line by 5 p.m. were allowed to apply for, and cast their ballots.
However, voters who have already received a mail-in ballot can still drop off their completed ballots at the county’s elections office at 150 N. Queen St. Suite 117 in Lancaster up until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.
The United States Postal Service recommended sending a mail-in ballot through the mail a week or more before the election. Ballots sent afterward may not reach the election office in time though the USPS says it will strive to deliver mail-in ballots as promptly as possible.
The county elections office has extended its hours for dropping off mail-in and absentee ballots on the following days:
Thursday, 5 to 7 p.m.
Friday, 5 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Four designated 15-minute parking spaces will be available for ballot drop-off on Chestnut Street.
