Following a court ruling, Bucks County residents have a bit more time to cast their votes via on-demand mail-in ballots, as it was announced Wednesday that the Bucks County Board of Elections Office in Doylestown will remain open during regular business hours through Friday, Nov. 1 for voters to apply for, receive and return their ballots.
The decision to extend on-demand voting came after a court ruling on Wednesday. In a news release about the ruling, county officials said they remain commited to voter enfranchisement, and have “spent the last five years in office working tirelessly to make it easier for people to vote via whatever method they choose.”
In addition to announcing the extension of the deadline to vote by mail on-demand at the elections office, an alert published on the county website noted that “wait times for in-person mail-in ballots may be longer than expected” and that to “ensure all applications are processed by the end of the day, the office may need to stop accepting new applicants before the posted closing time.”
In recent days, long lines have been reported outside three county government centers where on-demand mail-in voting was taking place, including the Upper Bucks Government Service Center in Richland Township, the Lower Bucks Government Service Center in Levittown and the County Administration Building (Old Courthouse) in Doylestown.
Some voters faced wait times so long that they were unable to submit their mail-in ballot applications by the Tuesday 5 p.m. deadline, which prompted the Trump campaign to file suit against the county, according to a story published by LevittownNow.com.
“Pennsylvania’s on-demand mail voting system allows voters to request, receive and cast mail-in ballots on the same day,” the story said. “However, the process can take more than 10 minutes per voter and lines quickly built up due to high demand as some misunderstood the process as ‘early voting,’ which Pennsylvania does not permit.”
In its news release about the court ruling, county officials asked for continued patience and understanding from residents as they conduct the election and reiterated a call on the Pennsylvania General Assembly for election law reform.
This local news story was reported with generative AI assistance.
