The Berks County Office of Election Services announced Tuesday that the first batch of mail-in ballots for the November 3 General Election have been printed and will be distributed throughout this week.
Karen Barsoum, Assistant Director of Elections Services, said the first 3,000 mail-in ballots went out Friday, October 2, and about 10,000 are expected to be sent each day this week.
Barsoum said the office has currently received applications for roughly 67,000 absentee and mail-in ballots combined.
A drop box for completed mail-in ballots is now available at the Berks County Services Center in the lobby of the main entrance off of Reed Street.
A second drop box will be made available at the County of Berks Agricultural Center at 1238 County Welfare Road, Leesport, starting Monday, October 26.
The drop boxes can be accessed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, and will be secured by deputies from the Berks County Sheriff’s Department.
The drop boxes will remain accessible until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Drop boxes will be emptied each day by members of the Office of Election Services.
A voter must return his or her own completed absentee or mail-in ballot to the county board of elections or to a county-designated drop-box locations.
Third-person delivery of absentee or mail-in ballots is not permitted.
The Office of Election Services is also accepting appointments for early in-person voting at the County of Berks Elections Office.
Anyone who has not already applied for a mail-in or absentee ballot may sign up for early in-person voting.
For more information or to sign up, please follow the instructions and link at www.countyofberks.com/Elections.
The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania has also released this video tutorial that walks through the process for properly completing and returning mail-in ballots.
