Instruction error on Lehigh County mail-in voting ballot corrected

• An incorrect set of instructions was included with mail-in and absentee ballots mailed to Lehigh County voters on Oct. 9
• Voters must place their ballots in the yellow secrecy envelope, not the white envelope as the error message instructed
• The error with the first ballot mailing has been corrected for subsequent mailings

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Attention mail-in voters of Lehigh County!

Before filling out, signing, sealing, stamping and mailing the general election ballot back to the Office of Voter Registration at the county government center in Allentown, take note:

According to a news release sent Friday by the county public information officer, an incorrect set of instructions was included with mail-in and absentee ballots mailed to voters on Oct. 9.

The error with the first ballot mailing has been corrected for subsequent mailings.

Specifically, the instruction error directs voters to place their ballot in the white secrecy envelope marked Official Election Ballot and seal it.

Here’s the error: The secrecy envelope is yellow, not white.

The proper instructions are to place the yellow secrecy envelope into the enclosed white mailing envelope. Also, the voter declaration on the white mailing envelope must be signed and dated as of the date of signing.

Ballots returned without the yellow secrecy envelope or are not signed and dated will not be counted.

Voters who already returned their ballots without the yellow secrecy envelope may vote at the polls via provisional ballot.

Provisional ballot, mail-ins and more

A provisional ballot works like this: A voter whose name doesn’t appear on the voter registration list at a precinct polling place on Election Day — but who believes they are, in fact, registered — may be offered a provisional ballot.

After being marked, the provisional ballot is placed in a special secrecy envelope rather than in the ballot box.

After the polls close, the registration status of the voter is determined. If the voter was, in fact, registered on Election Day, the ballot is removed from the secrecy envelope and counted like any other ballot.

If the voter wasn’t registered, the ballot remains in the secrecy envelope and is not counted.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

All mail-in and absentee ballots must be received by the Office of Voter Registration no later than 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.

Ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 7, but not received until after 8 p.m. Nov. 7 will not be counted.

The deadline to register to vote is Monday, Oct. 23.

The deadline to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 5 p.m.

On-demand, over-the-counter voting will be available starting Monday, Oct. 16 and continuing through 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31.

During that time, voters may apply for a mail-in ballot, get their ballot on the spot and fill out and return their ballot.

Contact the Office of Voter Registration at 610-782-3194 for more information.