(This information is specific to Pennsylvania! If you are in another state, your election laws and ways to find out about the status of coronavirus transmission will be different. The general principles of assessing your local situation and your own level of risk, holds. Make a plan to vote now!)

Election season is upon us. It's time to get prepared! Things look a little different than you might have expected. Certainly last year at this time we weren't thinking about what would be involved in voting during an ongoing public health crisis. And even this spring, during the primary which was itself delayed by the pandemic, we had a somewhat different perspective, since there was still a lot more confidence in the US postal service.

TL;DR: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, you need to plan ahead to safely exercise your civic responsibility to vote:

• There are three ways to vote this year: 1) In-person voting, 2) use of Mail-in or Absentee ballots or 3) early voting by returning your Mail-in or Absentee ballot in person. No matter which way you choose, time is of the essence!
• To choose an option, first consider the prevalence of COVID-19 in your area, then assess your personal risk to catch the virus such as age or preexisting health problems. 
• If you're committed to Mail-In or Absentee Ballot, they must be applied for in advance (by October 27, 2020 at the latest but ideally far sooner). You can apply at VotesPA.com/ApplyMailBallot or at your County Elections Office.  Once the ballot arrives, fill it out promptly (carefully following all the instructions and using both the secrecy and return mailing envelope), and return it either by mail or in person to the Elections Office.
• If you opt for in-person voting, be prepared to wear a mask, socially distance, and be cautious of others' behavior.
• There is one additional variation on these choices that could be considered hedging your bets to keep your options open. You could apply for a mail-in ballot now and then wait to see what the COVID risk level is as Election Day approaches. If it seems reasonable, you can bring your unused mail-in ballot (the entire thing including the multiple envelopes will be required, so don't lose, recycle, or throw them away in the interim!) to your polling station. If you turn it (all) in there to be shredded, you will be permitted to vote normally. If you have lost some or all of it, you will be restricted to casting a provisional ballot instead.

For nitty gritty details on how to assess risk, websites to go to for both voting and COVID-19 information, and more information about the idea of keeping your options open, continue reading.

So here we are in a world of change. The good news is that some changes that preceded 2020 can actually make the election this fall more accessible, specifically, last fall the PA legislature passed bipartisan legislation called Act 77 of 2019 reforming voting laws in the state. Among other things, the new law introduced no excuse mail-voting (also known as voting from home), shifted some of the deadlines associated with voting (making it possible to register to vote just 2 weeks prior to an election), and eliminated the straight party voting option, as well as additional provisions affecting candidates, petitions, counting of votes, etc. You can read more about the law on the VotesPA.com website or by looking the whole thing up on the General Assembly website. Best to search both for Act 77 of 2019 and Act 12 of 2020, which offered some clarifications to the law as originally passed.

Thanks to Act 77, we now have additional options for voting, namely vote-by-mail available to pretty much any registered voter in the state. There's even a way in which this can function as an opportunity to vote early, though we don't formally have early voting on the books. (More on the specifics of that below.)

This really does mean that this will be an election season, rather than just a day. It's basically starting now, not just with signs and debates and ads, but also with things you as a voter can be doing to prepare. We should also recognize that the season extends beyond November 3 as well, during the interval when officials work to verify and count all the ballots.

How are YOU planning on voting this fall? It is time to make a plan. In past years, there might have been a fairly simple directive or diagram of the steps to be taken. This year, between the new laws, the pandemic, and the uncertainty about timely mail delivery, it's a bit more complicated. Never fear, though, you can figure out what course of action makes the most sense for you.

What do you need to be thinking about with respect to COVID-19 and voting? We're going to go over the following topics and provide links to help you look at these issues in more detail for yourself.

• How much risk is there in your area?
• What is your personal risk level?
• How safe will the polls be?
• Consider that some polls might have to be closed or reorganized
• How can you reduce risk when you vote?

This material is also available as a pdf slide show here:

ASSESS THE LOCAL LEVEL OF RISK

Check the PA Department of Health resources to find out what the state of the pandemic is locally. Visit health.pa.gov and look at the COVID-19 Dashboard (screenshot above is from August 29). You can focus on your own county and look at counts over time, which is more useful than just getting an isolated number for the day reported on the news. In addition to the statewide map and county detail pages, there is now an Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard that was largely put together to help guide school districts in their planning for reopening. That page gives very useful statistics like the new case incidence rate per 100k people over the past 7 days and the test positivity rate.

Once you have the stats, you need to then put them in context. Is community transmission low, moderate, or substantial in your area? Let that inform your choice of how to vote.

This chart was put together by the Department of Health and Education to help guide school reopening decisions. You can use this to assess whether local levels of risk are low, moderate or substantial and then consider that in light of your personal level of risk to come up with a course of action.

ASSESS YOUR OWN LEVEL OF RISK

Are you in one of these risk categories?

• Over 70 (also over 60, but over 70 is higher risk)
• Under 70 with an underlying condition
• Pregnant
• Person with complex health problems

OR

• Do you live in a household with someone in one of these risk categories?

If not, consider traditional in-person voting on Election Day – just be safe about it!

If so, traditional in-person voting may not be the best choice for you, consider your Mail-In, Absentee, and In-person Absentee/Early In-Person options.

MAIL-IN V. ABSENTEE BALLOTS

Mail-In and Absentee Ballots are largely similar/parallel options, however, there are a few nuances. There are more options for ballot delivery with Absentee Ballots which can be mailed, delivered by the voter, or delivered by a designated representative of the voter (usually a family member or nursing facility staff). Mail-In can just be mailed or delivered by the voter.

So, if you are unable to ensure you can mail your ballot by mid-October (for instance in the event you don’t receive it by then) and you are

• Physically unable to mark your ballot yourself
• Unable to travel to the Elections Office or to the polls
• In a nursing home
• Without close family in the area

you may be best off with an Absentee Ballot. In fact, if you apply online, the website will ask a series of questions to determine which ballot you should apply for.

With both types of ballot you can even track your ballot remotely. If you provide an email address when you apply, you will get updates on the progress of both your application and the ballot itself by email. Or you can visit the PA Department of State website and input your info there to find out the status.

ASSESS SAFETY AT THE POLLS

At the polls in your County will they...

• Require masks of voters?
• Provide for distancing?
• Step up hygiene?
• Increase ventilation or air volume?
• Minimize time of exposure to others?

Also think this through in light of THIS fall rather than previous experiences at your polling site. This will be a presidential election and even with nothing else being different, turnout levels are expected to be much higher. Even polling places that are usually fairly empty could be much more busy. And, again depending on the status of infection in your location, some polls might wind up being changed or combined together, also increasing the number of people at a given site. Even though there is currently no plan for poll consolidation, it could still take place if there are not enough poll workers available. The vast majority of poll workers are 65 and over and may decide against being there all day for their own health. (If you are not in a vulnerable category and are prepared to take precautions, you could also apply to be a poll worker. You do get paid for what is a very full day of work. Plus there is some training required in advance. Contact your county elections office to find out if you're eligible to sign up.)

MAKE YOUR VOTING SAFETY PLAN

If you choose to vote in person on Election Day, you should...

• Wear a mask (properly)
• Maintain distancing – e.g. wait for a lull or any unmasked people to leave and the air to clear
• Step up your hygiene before, during, and after
  • Don’t touch your face or your mask or your glasses without disinfecting your hands before and after
  • Cover sneezes and coughs
  • Wash hands and gear well upon leaving
• Minimize time of exposure to others
• Screen yourself for symptoms and don’t go if you are or may be sick (Emergency Absentee Ballots are available for last minute problems; scroll down to the very bottom of this page for that info)

In acute circumstances, i.e. if you must go in person in spite of local or personal high risk,

• Consider adding a face shield or goggles to your mitigation measures
• Wear an N95 mask if possible (though remember that they are only effective with proper hygiene and really should be reserved for front line workers)
• Self-isolate afterwards from vulnerable people in your household for 14 days and consider getting tested

WHAT ARE THE VOTING OPTIONS?

All PA voters now have three options:

• Traditional In-Person voting on Election Day
• Voting early from home by Mail-In ballot
• Voting In-Person Absentee/Early In Person at the Elections Office

In light of these options, you may want to opt firmly for voting in person on November 3 or you may be less certain about that and yet still concerned about the timing of mailing your ballot. There is one additional option that would amount to hedging your bets in order to keep your options open:

• Apply for your Mail-In ballot NOW.
• Assess local COVID conditions the week before the election.
• If COVID conditions allow, go ahead and go in person to the polls. If you bring your unused Mail-In ballot (the entire thing including the multiple envelopes) and turn it in to be shredded, you can vote normally. Just be safe about it!
• If COVID conditions are bad, instead hand deliver your completed Mail-In ballot to the County Elections Office (during office hours and ideally at least a few days before Election Day; avoid the last minute).
• If for some reason you haven’t received your Mail-In ballot by Election Day, go ahead and vote in person by provisional ballot. (All the more reason to apply now!)

ELECTION SEASON STARTS NOW!

Whatever you decide to do, remember that at every stage, the best choice is to act early!

• The Voter Registration Deadline is October 19 – register now!
• Mail-In and Absentee Ballot application deadline is October 27 – apply now! (Fastest, online, valid PA Drivers’ License required; next fastest, in person; slower, mail in hard copy of your application)
• Absentee and Mail-In Ballots that are mailed must be postmarked by Nov 3 and received by the Elections Office by November 6. Mail yours ASAP!
• Absentee and Mail-In Ballots that are hand delivered must be received at the County Elections Office (or other certified drop off location where available) by 8pm on November 3, Election Day. Deliver yours in person ASAP!
• (Eagerness and enthusiasm are good, but don't offer to deliver other people's ballots. That's illegal!)

There are many challenges to voting this year. The best thing you can do in response to all of it is to make you vote. You have options. Look them over and make your plan to vote. (If you are communicating about this with friends in other states, remember that election laws vary from state to state.)

One final note about Mail-In and Absentee Ballots: it is critical that you follow the instructions precisely when completing your ballot. Errors could result in the voiding of your vote. Sign where it says to sign; do not sign where it does not say to sign! Fill in the information and boxes as indicated. Use the various envelopes provided. Be sure your vote counts!