Allegheny County has begun mailing ballots to voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm Election Day. 

Pennsylvanians will be able to vote by mail this year the same way they have since the current system went into place in 2020. The Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to upend the mail balloting process across the country.

“Nothing has changed about voting by mail in Pennsylvania,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said during a Sept. 15 media briefing. “And eligible Pennsylvanians who choose to vote by mail should have confidence that they can continue to do so safely and securely.”

The Supreme Court moved Sept. 14 to reject a Trump executive order that critics said was overstepping the president’s constitutional authority when it comes to setting election rules, which are largely a state responsibility.

Trump’s plan would have required states to submit lists of eligible voters to the United States Postal Service, which would then be empowered to refuse to deliver ballots to voters deemed ineligible. 

Trump has cast doubt on the integrity of mail-in ballots for years, repeating false claims that they have been a vehicle for widespread fraud that’s cost him and his party elections. Audits and investigations have found no evidence of large-scale fraud in mail-in balloting or in U.S. elections broadly in modern times.

How to return your ballot

Pennsylvanians will vote this year on whether to give Gov. Josh Shapiro a second term in office or turn it over to Republican Stacy Garrity. The race for control of both houses of the state legislature is highly competitive, with a handful of closely-watched districts in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Since 2020, every Pennsylvania voter has been eligible to cast a vote by mail. Use this form to request a mail-in ballot. Requests must be submitted by Oct. 27.

Allegheny County residents can still use the Postal Service, as long as they send the ballot back in time for it to be received on or before Nov. 3. They can also choose from a handful of other ways of returning a completed ballot.

Ballot drop-off points

There will be 13 ballot drop-off locations spread throughout Allegheny County. Most will operate only in the final five days before the close of voting. Four of those locations (in Homewood, North Park, South Park and Downtown) will also serve as satellite election offices and will be open on various days (see below).

Satellite election offices: One-stop shop

Even if you have not requested and received a mail-in ballot, you can still go to one of the four satellite election offices to request, receive, fill out and return a ballot all at once. These services are only offered at the five satellite offices, not the other nine drop-off locations, and only on certain days. 

The satellite election office at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall will be open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 7-8. Satellite offices at CCAC Homewood, North Park Ice Rink, South Park Ice Rink and the County Office Building, Downtown, will be open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 17-18 and 24-25. The Downtown location is already open weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., through Oct. 19.

Your normal polling place

If you can’t get to any of these locations, you can turn over your mail-in ballot at your normal polling place and vote via a regular ballot between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Election Day. If you lost your mail-in ballot or did not receive it, you can vote a provisional ballot at your normal polling place. 

Charlie Wolfson is Pittsburgh Public Source’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.

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Voting by mail underway as usual in Allegheny County in 2026

by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source
October 5, 2026

<h1>Voting by mail underway as usual in Allegheny County in 2026</h1> <p class="byline">by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />October 5, 2026</p> <p>Allegheny County has begun mailing ballots to voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm Election Day.&nbsp;</p> <p>Pennsylvanians will be able to vote by mail this year the same way they have since the current system went into place in 2020. The Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to upend the mail balloting process across the country.</p> <p>“Nothing has changed about voting by mail in Pennsylvania,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said during a Sept. 15 media briefing. “And eligible Pennsylvanians who choose to vote by mail should have confidence that they can continue to do so safely and securely.”</p> <p>The Supreme Court <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-mail-voting-executive-order-lawsuit-78a4fbeb48d9c5fd27d1c865529fc65f">moved Sept. 14 to reject a Trump executive order</a> that critics said was overstepping the president’s constitutional authority when it comes to setting election rules, which are largely a state responsibility.</p> <p>Trump’s plan would have required states to submit lists of eligible voters to the United States Postal Service, which would then be empowered to refuse to deliver ballots to voters deemed ineligible.&nbsp;</p> <p>Trump has cast doubt on the integrity of mail-in ballots for years, repeating false claims that they have been a vehicle for widespread fraud that’s cost him and his party elections. Audits and investigations have found <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/mail-voting-in-the-us-data-points-to-very-low-fraud-and-significant-benefits-to-voters/">no evidence of large-scale fraud</a> in mail-in balloting or in U.S. elections broadly in modern times.</p> <h2 id="h-how-to-return-your-ballot" class="wp-block-heading">How to return your ballot</h2> <p>Pennsylvanians will vote this year on <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/shapiro-garrity-election-tv-ad-spending/">whether to give Gov. Josh Shapiro a second term</a> in office or turn it over to Republican Stacy Garrity. The race for control of both houses of the state legislature is <a href="https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/09/races-to-watch-pennsylvania-house-senate-2026-midterm-election-elections/">highly competitive</a>, with a handful of closely-watched districts in Southwestern Pennsylvania.</p> <p>Since 2020, every Pennsylvania voter has been eligible to cast a vote by mail. <a href="https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/OnlineAbsenteeApplication/#/OnlineAbsenteeBegin">Use this form to request a mail-in ballot</a>. Requests must be submitted by Oct. 27.</p> <p>Allegheny County residents can still use the Postal Service, as long as they send the ballot back in time for it to be received on or before Nov. 3. They can also choose from a handful of other ways of returning a completed ballot.</p> <h4 id="h-ballot-drop-off-points" class="wp-block-heading">Ballot drop-off points</h4> <p>There will be 13 ballot drop-off locations spread throughout Allegheny County. Most will operate only in the final five days before the close of voting. Four of those locations (in Homewood, North Park, South Park and Downtown) will also serve as satellite election offices and will be open on various days (see below).</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-datawrapper wp-block-embed-datawrapper"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.datawrapper.de/_/JpHGl/?v=2 </div> </figure> <h4 id="h-satellite-election-offices-one-stop-shop" class="wp-block-heading">Satellite election offices: One-stop shop</h4> <p>Even if you have not requested and received a mail-in ballot, you can still go to one of the four satellite election offices to request, receive, fill out and return a ballot all at once. These services are only offered at the five satellite offices, not the other nine drop-off locations, and only on certain days.&nbsp;</p> <p>The satellite election office at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall will be open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 7-8. Satellite offices at CCAC Homewood, North Park Ice Rink, South Park Ice Rink and the County Office Building, Downtown, will be open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 17-18 and 24-25. The Downtown location is already open weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., through Oct. 19.</p> <h4 id="h-your-normal-polling-place" class="wp-block-heading">Your normal polling place</h4> <p>If you can’t get to any of these locations, you can turn over your mail-in ballot at your normal polling place and vote via a regular ballot between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Election Day. If you lost your mail-in ballot or did not receive it, you can vote a provisional ballot at your normal polling place.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Charlie Wolfson is Pittsburgh Public Source’s local government reporter. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:charlie@publicsource.org">charlie@publicsource.org</a>.</em></p> <p><a href="https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-school-tax-rise/?relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=1320250&amp;relatedposts_position=1"></a></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-mail-ballot-return-2026/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1338183&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-mail-ballot-return-2026/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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