Aug 4, 2020 3 min read

No stamp? No problem.

Those who will be voting by regular mail won’t need a stamp to send in their ballots in advance of the Nov. 3 election because the envelopes’ postage will be pre-paid.

Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar announced the Pennsylvania Department of State will direct funding for postage so all eligible voters can return their mail-in and absentee ballots at no cost to the voter for the 2020 general election.

The pre-paid postage will apply to both absentee and no-excuse mail-in ballots.

“The funding is part of the federal CARES Act, from which the Department of State received approximately $14 million for election administration costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote department spokeswoman Wanda Murren in response to an email inquiry.

About $6 million of the original amount went directly to the counties for COVID-related expenditures, according to Murren.

“The Department of State’s grant was allocated by Congress specifically for elections, and is administered through the Elections Assistance Commission,” she continued.

“We expect the total cost will not exceed $3 million. That figure assumes about 6 million voters – turnout of roughly 75% of registered voters as we had in November 2016 – mailing a return ballot.

“But in reality, many of those voters will vote in person at the polls, and some of those who do vote a mail ballot will return their ballots in person, or vote them in person at county offices.”

Eligible voters may apply for their mail-in or absentee ballot online, in person at their county election offices, or by paper forms submitted by mail.

Once the county determines the voter is eligible, the department’s funding will allow the counties to send a postage-paid ballot-return envelope with the ballot to the voter for their easy return.

The Department of State is working with counties to identify the easiest way of handling pre-paid postage for November’s returned ballots – whether it be reimbursed metered postage, funding Business Reply Mail postage costs, or reimbursement for stamps.

“That’s up to the state,” said Melanie Ostrander, Washington County director of elections.

“They would be reaching out to decide the easiest manner of implementing pre-paid postage for our county. We are to have more information by the end of the week.

“As soon as I read this release, I thought, ‘This is a benefit to the voters.’ We get many phone calls asking if they have to put a stamp on the envelope.”

For voters who prefer to vote in person, polling places will be available in all counties on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3.

More information about mail-in and absentee ballots and voting in Pennsylvania is available at www.votespa.com.