What to Know Before You Vote
Tomorrow is Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and anyone in line at 8 p.m. gets to vote. Here is the fine print that trips people up, all from the Monroe County Elections Office's own pages.
Mail ballot still on the counter? It has to be in the county's hands by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Postmarks no longer count, and you cannot drop a voted ballot at your polling place. Only the voter may hand-deliver a ballot. The one exception is a voter with a disability who has designated an agent in writing.
Drop box warning. Only three of the county's seven drop boxes list Election Day hours: the Administration Building and Pocono Mountain Public Library, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Clymer Library, which closes at 7:30 p.m., a half hour short of the deadline. The county shows no Election Day hours for the other four, so do not count on them being open until 8 p.m. The safe plays are the Administration Building or the Pocono Mountain library, or call the Elections Office at 570-517-3165 to confirm. Every box and its hours are in our full guide.
Got a mail ballot but want to vote in person? Bring the ballot and its declaration envelope to your polling place, tell the poll worker you are surrendering them, sign the form and vote as usual. If you cannot find the ballot, you can vote a provisional ballot, which is counted once the county verifies it.
First time voting at a polling place? Bring ID. A PA driver's license, passport, military ID or student ID counts, and so does a utility bill, bank statement or paycheck showing your name and address, according to the county.
Not sure where to vote? The county's polling place locator searches by your street address, not your town. It is not obvious. For me, I’m closer to the Moose Lodge, but I vote at the Municipal Building on Fifth. My sister-in-law lives a block from the Municipal Building but votes at the Moose Lodge. Don’t depend on logic…look it up.
Full guide. Candidates in every race, key dates, how to vote, every drop box and its hours, and links to your sample ballot and the mail ballot tracker are at localunfiltered.com/monroe/election.
Parents: The Stroudsburg Area School District calendar lists Tuesday, Nov. 3, as an Act 80 Day, with no school for students. The calendar is the only notice we found, so check with the district before planning around it.
Election night. Results will post at agencies2.monroecountypa.gov/ElectionResults. We have not seen the county say when to expect them, so do not hold us to a time.
