One in 10 PA voters choosing mail-in ballots for April primary. There's still time to apply

Despite the Presidential Election appearing to come down to a rematch of 2020, a large number of Pennsylvania voters seem energized to cast a ballot in the April 23 primary race, according to mail-in ballot application data.

Over 829,397 mail-in ballot applications have been approved and are being sent out to voters now across the state, a total that so far represents about 10% of eligible voters.

Pennsylvania has a closed primary, which means only Republican and Democratic voters can cast a ballot for their respective party’s nominee in federal and statewide races.

Robert Speel, an associate professor of political science at Penn State Erie, said that the count for mail ballot applications is “surprising” given the current state of the Presidential race.

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Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump secured enough delegates by March 12 to become the Democratic and Republican nominees, respectively.

“What usually turns out voters is a presidential race. So given that that's not really playing much of a role for the Pennsylvania primary later this month, it is surprising that almost a million applications have been filed; It sounds like a lot to me,” Speel said.

Presidential election years have historically seen high turnout at the polls, the 2020 election between Biden and Trump drawing 159 million votes and setting a record for turnout across the country.

The current number of mail-in ballots is almost 60% of the 1.45 million total mail-in ballots cast in Pennsylvania during the 2020 primary, though mail-in ballot use was also bolstered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The first cases of the then-novel coronavirus started showing up in Pennsylvania in March 2020, eventually causing the primary to be pushed back to June with many voters opting not to vote in person.

While there are other federal and statewide races voters will decide on in November, there aren’t a lot of contested races to drive primary turnout.

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In the race for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, which currently has two Democrats in power after Sen. John Fetterman won his race in 2022, the primary is all but decided at this point.

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican former hedge fund CEO David McCormick are running unopposed in their respective parties.

Speel noted that Democrats have contested races for the state’s Attorney General, Auditor General and Treasurer while Republicans have only a single candidate in all but the race for the state’s top law enforcement official.

Outside of the volume of mail-in ballot applications, Speel said there didn’t seem to be anything particularly unusual.

About 603,410 Democrats have been approved for a mail ballot compared to about 206,995 Republicans. That’s about 15% of the state’s 3.89 million registered Democrats and less than 6% of the state’s 3.49 million Republican voters.

While Republicans have tried to warm their voting base to mail-in ballots more recently, Speel said Democrats are by and large much more accepting to voting by mail.

The top five counties for mail-in ballots are Allegheny (114,693 ballots), Philadelphia (84,097 ballots), Montgomery (72,100 ballots), Bucks (58,737 ballots) and Chester (39,822 ballots).

Those counties tend to lean more for Democrats — who vote by mail more than Republicans — and Speel noted that it’s not surprising the most populous counties would have the most mail ballots.

Voting by mail appears to be more heavily favored by senior voters, with 69 being the median age of approved ballot applicants.

Only about 99,064, or 12%, of mail voters are under 40, almost half that are in their twenties.

While Speel said younger voters tend to register as independent voters, “even though that that prevents them from voting in primary elections,” he added that youth participation in primaries is often “dismal” no matter the election year.

All of these numbers are expected to change as the deadline for mail ballots remains open.

Voters have until April 16 to apply for a mail-in ballot or civilian absentee ballot, both of which need to be returned to that voter’s local Board of Elections by 8 p.m. on April 23. Post marks will not count. Monday, April 8 was the deadline to register to vote in the primary.

Applications for mail ballots can be completed online at www.pavoterservices.pa.gov or applications can be printed, signed, mailed or hand-delivered to the county’s Board of Elections office.

Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at cullery@couriertimes.com or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PA voters turn to mail ballots despite secured presidential nominees