Jewish Federation urges voters to heed mail-in ballot deadline as Passover approaches

The Pittsburgh Jewish community is reminding voters that Tuesday is the last day to request a mail-in ballot for the April 23 primary, a date with added importance this year since the Passover holiday will make it impossible for potentially thousands of Jews to vote in person on Election Day.

The first full day of Passover coincides with the primary election. The holiday lasts from sundown April 22 through April 30.

Laura Cherner of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said Passover, which marks the exodus of the Jews from enslavement in Egypt, includes several lifestyle adjustments that will affect voting in the Jewish community.

Vehicle and technology use are discouraged on the first day of Passover, as well as writing, she said.

That means the federation has been pushing to ensure Jews are using no-excuse, mail-in ballots so they can cast their vote before Election Day.

“We have had a lot of success,” Cherner said. “There has been a concerted effort to get people registered and applied for mail-in ballots.”

Cherner said this has been particularly important for the Orthodox Jewish community, which follows Passover restrictions most fervently.

She estimates a few thousand people within the Jewish community — mostly Orthodox — will be voting by mail instead of in-person this primary. There are nearly 50,000 Jews in Allegheny County, said Cherner.

Cherner said with antisemitism on the rise and interest in the Israel-Hamas war high, she expects turnout in the Jewish community to be up this year.

As of Monday, more than 120,000 mail-in ballot applications had been sent to voters in Allegheny County. That includes more than 98,000 registered Democrats and about 22,000 registered Republicans.

Of those, about 56,500 ballots have been returned, with over 46,500 from Democrats and about 9,800 from Republicans.

Last year, over 67,000 people in Allegheny County voted by mail. In 2022, more than 80,000 mail-in ballots were cast.

Allegheny County established six staffed locations to drop off mail-in ballots, including one in the heart of Squirrel Hill.

The drop-off locations were open this past weekend and will be open again this upcoming weekend.

Cherner said the Squirrel Hill drop-off location has been praised and used by local leaders in the Jewish community.

“The county’s efforts to have additional drop boxes have been a good way to expand voting for observant Jews,” Cherner said.

Passover is affecting more than Jewish voters.

The county also had to move six polling locations because of the holiday, including from Jewish community centers, synagogues and temples, Abigail Gardner, a county spokeswoman said. Those sites covered 16 voting precincts.

Gardner said the county anticipates those locations will return to serving as polling places for the November general election.

Overall, 60 precincts were moved for the April 23 primary, out of about 1,300 polling places in Allegheny County.

Gardner said the county usually moves at least a dozen polling places every election, including churches, for a variety of reasons. In some cases, buildings that house polling places close or properties change ownership and the new owners don’t want to host elections.

Cherner said the federation has been active in reminding voters their polling places have moved because of Passover. The last thing the federation wants, she said, is for people to show up to their old polling place, find it closed and then give up on voting.

Cherner said mail-in voters should turn in their ballots as soon as they can, to ensure they reach the county in time.

Ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, sealed inside a secrecy envelope and signed and dated correctly.