Bulk of Pa. mail ballots returned by midday

Pennsylvania counties sent out more than 1 million mail ballots ahead of the Nov. 2 election, according to new data from the Department of State.

Of those ballots, 89 percent were no-excuse, mail-in ballots; 11 percent were absentee ballots. Voters had until 8 p.m. on Tuesday to return their ballots to their county elections office or a secure ballot drop box.

The Nov. 2 municipal election was the fourth in which counties operated with the no-excuse, mail-in voting option, and Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid said counties and voters are “perfecting their processes” under the provision.

Degraffenreid said that about 73 percent — more than 700,000 — of the total number of mail-in and absentee ballots sent to voters were returned by midday on Tuesday.

“Those numbers are as of earlier today, and so, we believe that those numbers are going to increase,” she said during a Tuesday night press conference.