Elections

The Franklin County Election Board reminds all voters that NO electioneering is allowed within a polling place. This includes the display of candidate names on buttons, signs or clothing within the polling place as well as items advocating a political party, etc. Voters will be asked to remove the item or to cover it up before receiving a ballot.

Sample ballots are available on the Franklin County website and at the Franklin County Commissioners Office on the Thursday prior to each primary or election. 

The entire ballot with all offices and candidates listed as well as a list of polling places will appear in the classified section of both the Chambersburg Public Opinion and the Waynesboro Record-Herald the Thursday prior to each primary or election.  

You must call the Franklin County Election Board in January of each year to see if the office you are interested in is up for election. Judicial, county, township, borough and school district offices are always in odd numbered years. Federal, state and party offices are in even numbered years.

A visually impaired voter has several options for voting:

• Vote by absentee ballot
• Vote a paper ballot at his or her polling place with assistance
• Vote independently using the ExpressVote ADA unit. Voters using the ExpressVote ADA unit should be prepared to spend approximately 20 minutes voting their ballot as all instructions, candidates and summary are read to them with the use of headsets.

Voters can vote in person at their polling place on election day. All voters will receive an official paper ballot. After marking the ballot with an ink pen in the voting booth, the voter will place the ballot into a precinct counter to be counted.

Voters may also request to vote by absentee ballot or mail-in ballot. Visit the Franklin County Voter Registration page to learn more.

Be sure to read the voting instructions on the ballot before voting. If a voter inadvertently votes for more than the allowed number of candidates for a particular office, ask for a new ballot.

Campaigning and/or campaign signs are not allowed within 10 feet from any entrance to any voting location on election day.

Voters are not permitted to turn in their completed mail-in or absentee ballots at their polling locations. Voters who receive absentee or mail-in ballots and want to vote at their polling locations on election day must surrender their ballots and purple and white declaration envelopes to the judge of elections to be voided. Voters will then fill out a declaration form and will be given regular ballots to vote. Voters who do not surrender their ballots and purple and white declaration envelopes will be allowed to vote on provisional ballots.

Military and overseas civilians must submit a federal postcard application by visiting www.fvap.gov.

All Franklin County polling places are considered handicapped accessible.

No person is allowed to receive assistance in voting unless his or her registration record indicates the need for assistance or the voter completes and signs a Declaration of the Need for Assistance at the polling place prior to entering the voting booth. A voter may select anyone to assist them except the following individuals: the judge of elections; the voter’s employer or agent of that employer; or an officer or agent of the voter’s union. Each polling place will have a magnifying glass with bifocal lens available to assist those voters who may have trouble reading their ballot. A voter may also use the ExpressVote ADA Unit to mark his or her ballot.

An overvote occurs when an individual indicates a vote for more candidates on the ballot than the number of candidates for which a voter is permitted to vote for in a particular office.

All applicants must be completed, signed and received by the Franklin County Voter Registration Office no later than 5 p.m. on the Tuesday before each election. There are provisions made for individuals who need an emergency ballot after that deadline. Contact the Franklin County Voter Registration Office for more information.

Voted ballots must be received by the Franklin County Voter Registration Office no later than 8 p.m. on election day. When returning a ballot by mail, please allow at least three days for local delivery and four to five days for longer distances. Postmarks Do Not Count.

When a voter overvotes for a particular office, all of the votes cast by that voter for the overvoted office are canceled. All other votes on the ballot are counted.

Example: The office of County Commissioner on a municipal election ballot states “Vote for Not More Than Two” although there are three candidates elected. If a voter marks the ballot for all three candidates, the voter has overvoted and none of the candidates will receive a vote. However, this will not cause your entire ballot to be canceled, just the votes for County Commissioner.

When the voter selects RETURN on the precinct counter’s screen, the ballot will be returned to the voter without any votes having been counted. The voter will then need to present the overvoted ballot to the judge of elections to be spoiled and given a new ballot.

A voter undervotes when he or she casts fewer votes for a particular office than is permitted on the ballot. No ballot or vote will be canceled as a result of an undervote. Also precinct counters are not programmed to detect and notify voters when it encounters a ballot that is undervoted.

Voters who are voting in an election district for the first time or who have changed their name or address since the last election will need an approved form of identification, either photo or non-photo. No other voter will be asked to present an ID.

For information on voting in Franklin County, watch an online demo and/or instructional video on voting a digital scan ballot using a DS200 Precinct Counter at www.votespa.com. Franklin County also uses an assistive marking device for the blind or visually impaired in each polling place that is called an ExpressVote. To watch a demo of this machine, click here.

In Pennsylvania, primary elections are held on the third Tuesday of May except in years with a presidential election when they are held on the fourth Tuesday in April. Municipal/general elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you are in line at a poll at 8 p.m., you are still permitted to vote.

Listen to or read what the news media has to report. Go to candidate debates or talk to the candidates personally. Another good source of information may be the party headquarters and candidates’ websites. Finally, Franklin Votes is a good resource.

There are 73 polling places in Franklin County. Voters need to vote at the polling place assigned to them based on their home address. Polling place locations are listed on voters’ registration cards. Polling place locations can also be verified at www.pavoterservices.pa.gov. This website also provides directions from a voter’s home to his or her polling place.

Your vote is Very Important. There have been candidates in Franklin County that have won the election by only one or two votes.

The Help America Vote Act requires that a voter be notified if he or she has overvoted prior to casting the ballot so the voter has the opportunity to correct the overvote. When a voter places the ballot with an overvote into the precinct counter, the counter will produce an audio alert and indicate on the screen that an overvote has occurred. The voter then has the choice to cast the ballot as is or push RETURN to retrieve the ballot for collection.