In Allegheny County, nine ballot return sites will remain open through Nov. 4.
Voters had until Oct. 29 to request a mail-in or absentee ballot in Pennsylvania.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, more than 257,000 Allegheny County voters requested mail-in ballots for the Nov. 5 election. Of those, about 201,000 have already been returned.
“We strongly encourage voters who are still holding on to their mail-in ballots to use one of our 10 ballot return sites across the county,” Allegheny County Elections Division Manager Dave Voye said. “If we receive a ballot after 8 p.m. on Election Day, even if it is postmarked Election Day or earlier, we cannot accept it.”
In addition to the South Park ice rink, locations include:
• Duquesne: Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank • Avalon: Public Library • Dormont: Pool • Homewood: Community College of Allegheny County • Moon Twp.: Allegheny County Emergency Services Building • Pine Twp.: North Park ice rink • Plum: Boyce Park Four Seasons Lodge • Squirrel Hill: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
The hours of the above locations are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
Voters who send or drop-off an absentee ballot may not vote in person at their neighborhood polling place, state officials have warned.
However, Allegheny County officials said voters who requested an absentee ballot, but did not return it, should bring it to their poling place and ask to vote in person instead. This process is known as “spoiling a ballot.”
Voters who are not in possession of their mail-in ballot and have not had confirmation that their mail-in ballot was received by the Elections Division should ask to cast a provisional ballot, the county said.
The United States Postal Service earlier this week suggested that all ballots be in the mail back to the County Elections Division by Oct. 29.
The County Office Building on Ross Street in downtown Pittsburgh also will be open for voters returning their mail-in ballots, a spokesperson said. The lane on Ross Street closest to the building is available for people to temporarily park and return their ballot.
The County Office Building hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Take Action Advocacy Group will hold a town hall Saturday to discuss public safety, police accountability and voter engagement.
The discussion, organized in cooperation with ALC Court Watch, begins at 2 p.m. Nov. 2 at Jacob Woll Pavilion at Renziehausen Park in McKeesport.
Organizers called the forum necessary in the wake of several incidents involving local police officers, including the arrest of a former McKeesport police detective and the McKeesport Area School District’s police chief; as well as an ongoing investigation by the Allegheny County district attorney’s office into items reportedly missing from the McKeesport police evidence room.
Allegheny County elections officials have issued this video explaining how absentee and mail-in ballots are counted. (Courtesy Allegheny County via YouTube)
Ahead of Tuesday’s election, Pennsylvania has become ground-zero for election conspiracy theories, experts warned this week, and they are cautioning the public not to be fooled.
Officials with the Allegheny County Elections Bureau have already attempted to debunk social media rumors after a video circulated of an absentee ballot drop-off location in South Park.
County officials said no illegal activity occured at the South Park drop-off facility, located at the county-owned ice rink on Corrigan Drive. The county elections bureau has opened temporary satellite offices at nine locations, including in Duquesne, Squirrel Hill and six other neighborhoods, where voters may deliver their own absentee ballots to elections workers.
One of the hot issues for younger voters — the year-long Israeli bombing campaign on Palestine, following an October 2023 surprise attack by Hamas — was barely mentioned Tuesday during a get-out-the-vote rally in McKeesport’s Renziehausen Park.
The closest anyone came was when former President Bill Clinton was listing a variety of problems the country was facing. The issue received less attention than questions about artificial intelligence.
Earlier in the day, an appearance by Clinton at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg was briefly interrupted when a 20-year-old protestor who identified herself only as “Faith” interrupted the former president’s remarks to ask why the United States is still supplying weapons to Israel.
Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for president, speaks during a 2016 campaign stop in Omaha, Neb. (Matt A.J. photo via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons license CC BY 2.0)
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein will attend a candidate forum in Renziehausen Park tonight (Wednesday) sponsored by Mon Valley-based Take Action Advocacy Group and Pittsburgh’s 412 Justice.
The Environmental Justice Candidate Forum begins at 5 p.m. at Jacob Woll Pavilion in McKeesport. The event is free, but online registration is requested.
In addition to Stein, other candidates who are scheduled to attend include Leila Hazou, Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate; U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, Democrat of Swissvale, who is seeking her second term in Congress, and challenger James Hayes (Republican Party); state attorney general candidates Eugene DePasquale (Democratic Party) and Richard L. Weiss (Green Party); Malcolm Kenyatta, Democratic candidate for state auditor general; Erin McClelland, Democratic candidate for state treasurer; State Sen. Jay Costa, Forest Hills Democrat, seeking re-election in the 43rd District; and John Ritter, Republican candidate for state General Assembly in the 25th District.
Former President Bill Clinton, who visited McKeesport in 1992 while running for president, helped lead a “get-out-the-vote” rally for local Democrats at Renziehausen Park on Tuesday. (Yousuf Lachhab Ibrahim photo for Tube City Almanac)
Former President Bill Clinton came to McKeesport on Tuesday for a Get Out the Vote rally in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president.
With early voting underway and Election Day less than a week away, Democrats, Republicans, and the Green Party are trying to secure votes with the little time they have left in Pennsylvania, which is considered the key swing state this year.
On the same day that Clinton came to McKeesport, Trump held a rally in Allentown. Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, will be coming to McKeesport tonight (Wednesday) for an environmental justice forum in Renziehausen Park from 5 to 8 p.m.
National Alliance on Mental Illness McKeesport Support Group will hold its next meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 6 in Room 122 of the Frable Building, Penn State Greater Allegheny, a spokeswoman said.
The meeting is open to families and friends of loved ones living with mental illness. A “care and share” session will be held. This opportunity offers understanding and support unique to those who are affected by mental health conditions of loved ones.
For more information about the McKeesport meeting, call (412) 527-6600. For the free NAMI Helpline, call (412) 366-3788 weekdays between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Penn State’s Greater Allegheny Campus in McKeesport will hold a community Halloween bash from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 29).
Guests will enjoy indoor and outdoor activities and games located in the Student Community Center and on the Buck Family Lawn. Parking is available in the Red Lot across from the SCC.
The event is being organized by students at PSUGA, said Rason Conner, who is majoring in recreation, park and tourism management at Greater Allegheny Campus.
Event highlights include trunk-or-treat, a costume contest, a photo booth, apple bobbing, a “smash the pumpkin” game, pumpkin Tic-Tac-Toe and other games, scary stories, scary movies, and arts and crafts.
Witnesses said a car driven by a Wilkins Twp. man “had to be pushing 100” miles per hour before it collided with another car in North Versailles Twp., leading to a Duquesne woman’s death.
Aaron J. Butler, 21, is charged by Allegheny County police with homicide in connection with the April 7 death of 66-year-old Tammy Chonko. Butler is free on $25,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing Nov. 1 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Charges were filed Oct. 17.
Detectives allege that Butler was speeding, driving erratically and high on marijuana when his car collided with Chonko’s car at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Crooked Run Road in North Versailles Twp.
The McKeesport Area School District has received 12 applications for the open position of superintendent, and is hoping to receive some more before the cut-off date on Oct. 31, officials said last week.
The hiring process began after the previous superintendent, Tia Wanzo, resigned amidst allegations of a failure to properly report a case of sexual contact between a 24-year-old security guard — Alexis Brown — and a 17-year-old student.
That case is separate from rumored allegations against an anonymous McKeesport Area teacher who was reportedly placed on administrative leave after being accused of sexual misconduct by a student. District officials have declined comment in that case.
At a sometimes contentious board meeting last week, McKeesport resident Bridgette Truss raised the issue of special education students. Two positions have been vacant since the beginning of the school year, she said, coordinator of special education and assistant coordinator of special education and accessibility.
