Voting begins ahead of November election

Early voting has started in Westmoreland County ahead of the Nov. 7 general election.

Elections Bureau Director Greg McCloskey said more than 25,000 mail-in ballots have been sent out to voters with another 1,000 being processed and expected to be distributed within days.

“We’re on pace with everything,” McCloskey said.

The number of mailed ballots already has exceeded the 24,000 that were cast last spring on Election Day outside the county’s 307 polling locations.

“I‘m shocked. I didn’t expect to be ahead of the spring,” McCloskey said.

According the Elections Bureau, 71% of the mail-in ballots were applied for by registered Democrats and 23% by Republican voters. About 6% of voters registered as independents or with third parties have asked for mail-in ballots, a number McCloskey said has far exceeded numbers from previous elections. No-excuse mail-in ballots have been used in Pennsylvania since 2020.

There are more than 244,000 registered voters in Westmoreland County, including 122,381 Republicans and 91,547 Democrats. In Allegheny County, Democrats account for more than 56% and Republicans 28% of the county’s 898,506 registered voters.

Voters can apply for and cast mail-in ballots at the same time in person at the Westmoreland County Courthouse. Applications also can be submitted by mail or online through a link on the Elections Bureau page of the county website.

Meanwhile, Democrats accounted for nearly 79% of mail-in ballots applied for by voters in Allegheny County, according to statistics released by the county’s elections office. Through Wednesday, 14% of the more than 117,000 mail-in ballots requested by Allegheny County voters were from registered Republicans and 7% from third party voters.

Over-the-counter voting in Allegheny County started Tuesday at a kiosk in the lobby of the courthouse in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Mail-in ballot applications will be accepted through Oct. 31. The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 7 election is Oct. 23.