Voters

Find questions and answers regarding many different topics here.

By going to the polling station in town

You can change your name, address, or political party on your voter registration record by completing a new voter registration application and indicating the changes you wish to make. Voter registration closes fifteen (15) days prior to a primary or election. You will receive a new voter registration card in the mail showing your new name, address or party.

You will need to complete the Voter Request to Cancel Registration form, sign and date and either mail or deliver it to the Voter Registration Office.

Call the Voter Registration Office at 717-261-3886 or you may also check your Voter Registration Status online.

Primary elections are always held on the third Tuesday in the month of May, except during a presidental year, in which case the primary is normally held on the fourth Tuesday in the month of April.  General or Municipal Elections are scheduled for the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. 
 
All polling places in Franklin County are considered accessible
 

Up until November of 2019, voters were given the option to vote Straight Party on their ballot. As a result of Act 77, a voter no longer has the option of voting for all candidates of one party by darkening in the oval for either Straight Democratic or Straight Republican. However, this change does not prevent a voter for selecting only candidates from one party. If a voter wants to vote for all candidates of one party, they will simply have to select the candidates one at a time.

No person is allowed to receive assistance in voting unless their 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:
 
1.  The Judge of Elections
2.  The voter's employer or agent of the employer
3.  An officer or agent of the voter's union.

If you are voting in an election district for the first time, you will need an approved form of identification, either photo or non-photo. 

A visually impaired voter has several options for voting:
 
1.  They could receive an absentee ballot.
2.  They could vote a paper ballot at the polling place with assistance.
3.  They could vote indepentently on the ExpressVote ADA unit.  Be advised that a visually impaired voter using the ExpressVote ADA unit should be prepared to spend appoximately 20 minutes voting their ballot since all instructions, candidates and summary are read to them with the use of headsets. 

All voters will receive an official paper ballot.  After marking their ballot with an ink pen in the voting booth, they will place their ballot into a Precinct Counter to be counted.

The Thursday prior to each primary or election, sample ballots are available in the Franklin County Commissioners Office, 272 n. Second St., Chambersburg, PA  17201 and this website.  
 
The entire ballot with all offices and candidates listed as well as a list of polling places will appear in both the Record Herald and Public Opinion newspaper the Thursday prior to each primary or election in the classified section.   

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

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.

From 7:00 a.m. continuously to 8:00 p.m. 

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

If you registered with "Motor Voter" and have not received an ID card from the Franklin County Voter Registration office with your polling place printed on it, you should call to find out if your registration form has been received.   

Probably.  It is no longer legal to remove any voter from the rolls merely for not voting, no matter how long that may be, as long as they maintain their voter record with a valid address.   
 
If a voter is sent a notice from the Voter Registration Office and it is returned as "undeliverable", the voter is placed on "Inactive" status.  When a voter is on "Inactive" status through two (2) federal elections and has not voted, they may be purged. 

You may go to your old polling place for one more election where your registration may still be active.  You should complete a change of address form while you are at the polling place so that your registration can be changed for future elections. 

Pennyslvania has what is called a closed primary, which only allows Republicans and Democrats to vote for candidates.  If there is a referendum on the ballot, all registered voters may vote for the referendum regardless of party affiliation. 
 
Listen 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.