A week before the Nov. 3 election, state officials urged voters not to risk a late arrival of their ballot through the mail and instead to return it in person.

All voters could do that at their county election office, but some Pennsylvanians had the additional options of drop boxes and satellite locations. The latter expanded the number of places where people could essentially vote early, by requesting a ballot in person and submitting it on the same day.

Of the state’s 67 counties, six of the most highly populated decided to open auxiliary offices. Pro-voting organizers told Spotlight PA and Votebeat they made voting easier and more accessible to those who couldn’t or didn’t want to go to the polls.

But after what local officials said was the most expensive election ever, counties aren’t sure how, or if, they’ll keep using satellite offices.

THE CONTEXT: Just one of the six counties told reporter Tom Lisi they have firm plans to continue using the offices in the future. Officials in other areas are still assessing what to do next.

It's hard to say if these auxiliary locations boosted turnout. 

State officials did not provide a number for how many voters took advantage of the satellite offices, but a spokesperson for the Department of State said that about 125,000 ballots were cast in person at a county election or secondary office. That’s about 5% of the 2.6 million mail ballots cast in the general election.

Local officials did, however, report high demand, especially to request a mail ballot in person rather than take a chance with the U.S. Postal Service.

“I also thought maybe I’m not good enough, not smart enough."

— Dr. Katalin Kairo, who developed biotechnology that was instrumental in the COVID-19 vaccine, on a demotion earlier in her career at the University of Pennsylvania

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