FunTimes Magazine

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This article is originally published on WHYY, and is republished on FunTimes Magazine in partnership with Every Voice, Every Vote.

Here’s what voters should know before the commonwealth’s general election on Nov. 4, from voter deadlines to who’s on the ballot in Philadelphia and statewide.

Below are deadlines specific to voting in Pennsylvania’s 2025 municipal election.

  • Deadline to register to vote: Monday, Oct. 20
  • Deadline to apply for a mail or absentee ballot: 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28
  • Deadline to return mail or absentee ballot: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 (postmarks do not count)
  • Deadline to submit military or overseas absentee ballots: 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3 (county election offices must receive by Wednesday, Nov. 12)

Pennsylvanians must register to vote in the general election by Monday, Oct. 20. They can find out whether they are registered to vote online.

Anyone can register to vote, so long as they will have been a U.S. citizen for at least 30 days before the election, are a resident of Pennsylvania and are going to be at least 18 years old on or before Election Day.

Under state law, people who are incarcerated for felonies can’t vote. However, people who are serving time for misdemeanor charges or are out on probation, parole or house arrest are eligible. If your misdemeanor conviction was in relation to a violation of the Pennsylvania election code, you are not eligible to vote.

Additionally, if you have been convicted of a felony, but were released or will be released from incarceration prior to the date of the next election, you are eligible to vote under Pennsylvania law.

Completed mail or absentee ballot applications must be received by county boards of elections by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Once ballots are ready, Pennsylvanians who are registered to vote may apply for mail ballots in person at their county board of elections offices, then complete and cast the ballots while there.

Pennsylvanians can also vote early in person by mail ballot through 8 p.m. on Election Day, as long as they have applied for a mail ballot before the deadline. The deadline to apply for a mail ballot in person is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28.

For those who choose to vote by mail, counties are providing secure drop-box locations for ballots.

Once available, official drop-box locations for Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, as well as Philadelphia, can be found online.

Completed mail or absentee ballots must be received by county boards of elections by 8 p.m. on Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 4. Postmarks do not count.

If there isn’t enough time to mail the ballot, a voter can drop it off in person at their county elections office or, if available, at a county drop box.

Pennsylvanians can also vote early in person by mail ballot through 8 p.m. on Election Day, as long as they apply for a mail ballot before the deadline. The deadline to apply for a mail ballot in person is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28.

If you have a mail ballot but want to vote in person on Election Day instead, you may, but you’ll need to bring your ballot and pre-addressed outer return envelope to be voided. Once you surrender your mail ballot and envelopes and sign a declaration, you may vote using a regular ballot.

Voters can check the status of their mail ballots online.

Pennsylvanians who would prefer to vote the old-fashioned way can do so in person on Election Day at the polls, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters can find their polling places online.

Voters can find their polling places online.

Voters who receive absentee or mail ballots can opt to vote in person on Election Day. To do so, voters must bring their ballots and the pre-addressed outer return envelopes to be voided. After they surrender their ballots and envelopes and sign a declaration, they can vote using a regular ballot.

Voters who request a mail ballot but don’t receive it, or don’t have it to surrender, may vote by provisional ballot at their polling places. The provisional ballots will be reviewed by the county board of elections post-Election Day to determine whether they will be counted.

Here’s a look at the major races, and who’s running for what:

Statewide judicial offices

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

  • What is it?: The Supreme Court is the commonwealth’s highest court and the oldest appellate court in the U.S., dating back to 1684. The court handles requests for appeals from the Commonwealth and Superior courts, appeals of lower court decisions, requests to intervene in a lower court’s proceedings and requests to release individuals who are unlawfully detained.
  • Who sits on the court?: Seven justices sit on the court and serve 10-year terms. For subsequent terms, the justices run in a “yes or no” retention election without an opponent.
  • What is the current makeup of the court?: The court has a five-member Democratic majority, with two Republican justices.
  • Who is up for election?: Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, all Democrats, are up for retention elections on Nov. 4. All three are recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association

» READ MORE: What to know about the Pa. Supreme Court retention races

Intermediate appellate courts

Pennsylvania has two statewide intermediate appellate courts: the Superior Court and the Commonwealth Court.

Pennsylvania Superior Court

  • What is it?: The Pennsylvania Superior Court is the intermediate appellate court for most civil and criminal cases appealed from county-level courts of common pleas. It also handles appeals on matters involving children and families.
  • Who sits on the court?: Fifteen judges sit on the court and serve 10-year terms, after which they run in yes-no retention elections without an opponent.
  • Which seats are up for election?
    • Brandon Neuman (D) and Maria Battista (R) are running in the partisan election to fill the Pennsylvania Superior Court vacancy left by Daniel McCaffery
    • Judge Alice Beck Dubow, who was elected as a Democrat, is running for retention

Partisan election | Vote for 1

  • Democratic Party
    • Brandon Neuman | Highly recommended
  • Republican Party
    • Maria Battista | Not recommended (failed to participate)

Retention election | Vote yes or no

  • Judge Alice Beck Dubow | Recommended

Note: Recommendations via the Pennsylvania Bar Association

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

  • What is it?: The Commonwealth Court usually handles matters involving state and local governments and regulatory agencies.
  • Who sits on the court?: Nine judges sit on the court, serving 10-year terms and presiding over cases in three-person panels.
  • What is the current makeup of the court?: The court has a five-member Republican majority, with three Democratic justices.
  • Which seats are up for election?:
    • Stella Tsai (D) and Matt Wolford (R) are running in the partisan election for the Commonwealth Court seat left vacant by Ellen Ceisler
    • Judge Michael Wojcik, who was elected as a Democrat, is up for retention

Partisan election | Vote for 1

  • Democratic Party
    • Stella Tsai | Highly recommended
  • Republican Party
    • Matt Wolford | Highly recommended

Retention election | Vote yes or no

  • Judge Michael Wojcik | Recommended

Note: Recommendations via the Pennsylvania Bar Association

» READ MORE: What to know about the candidates for Commonwealth Court

District attorney

» READ MORE: Philly DA race: What to know about incumbent Larry Krasner and challenger Pat Dugan

Controller

  • Democratic Party: Christy Brady (incumbent)
  • Republican Party: Ari Patrinos

Court of Common Pleas judges

What is it?: The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a general trial jurisdiction court, has 101 judges across three divisions: trial, family and orphans’. Judges serve 10-year terms, after which they run in yes-no retention elections without an opponent.

Judges and justices serving on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court all serve 10-year terms, as do Court of Common Pleas judges. Philadelphia Municipal Court judges are elected to six-year terms.

  • Trial Division: Most felony criminal and major civil cases with contested amounts over $12,000
  • Family Division: Domestic matters like divorces, custody, child support and domestic violence as well as juvenile matters like delinquency, dependency and adoptions
  • Orphans’ Division: Matters involving estates, wills and trusts

Partisan election | Vote for no more than 9

  • Democratic Party
    • Will Braveman | Recommended
    • Irina Ehrlich | Recommended
    • Larry Farnese | Recommended
    • Kia Ghee | Recommended
    • Sarah Jones | Recommended
    • Leon A. King II | Recommended
    • Brian Kisielewski | Recommended
    • Anthony Stefanski | Recommended
    • Deborah Watson-Stokes | Recommended
    • Joseph J. Russo | Not recommended
  • Republican Party
    • No candidates running

Retention election | Vote yes or no

  • Gwendolyn N. Bright | Recommended
  • Ann M. Butchart | Recommended
  • Michael Fanning | Recommended
  • Christopher Mallios Jr. | Recommended
  • Rainy Papademetriou | Recommended
  • Stephanie M. Sawyer | Recommended
  • Susan I. Schulman | Recommended
  • Tracy Roman | Recommended
  • Walter J. Olszewski | Recommended
  • Scott DiClaudio | Not recommended (refused to participate in investigation)
  • Daine A. Grey Jr. | Not recommended
  • Frank Palumbo | Not recommended (refused to participate in investigation)
  • Lyris Younge | Not recommended (refused to participate in investigation)

Note: Recommendations via the Philadelphia Bar Association

Municipal Court judges

What is it?: Philadelphia’s Municipal Court is a limited jurisdiction court of record comprised of 27 judges across three divisions: criminal, civil and traffic. Judges are elected for six-year terms, after which they run in yes-no retention elections without an opponent.

  • Criminal Division: Adult criminal cases with maximum incarceration sentences of up to five years. It also has initial jurisdiction in processing the city’s criminal arrests and holds misdemeanor trials and preliminary hearings for felony cases
  • Civil Division: Civil cases with contested amounts up to $12,000, landlord-tenant cases and real estate and school tax cases with contested amounts up to $15,000
  • Traffic Division: Traffic violations

Partisan election | Vote for no more than 3

  • Democratic Party
    • Amanda Davidson | Recommended
    • Michael Parkinson | Recommended
    • Sherrie Cohen | Not recommended
    • Cortez Patton | Not recommended
  • Republican Party
    • No candidates running

Retention election | Vote yes or no

  • David Conroy | Recommended
  • Henry Lewandowski | Recommended
  • Wendy Pew | Recommended
  • T. Francis Shields | Recommended
  • Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde | Not recommended

Note: Recommendations via the Philadelphia Bar Association

Inspector and judge of election

  • What does a judge of elections do?: The judge of elections is responsible for overseeing the entire election process and voter activities for their division.
  • What does an inspector of elections do?: The inspector of elections assists the judge of elections in overseeing the entire election process at a particular polling place and helps enforce voting regulations and procedures.

Elected by ward and division. Vote for 1 each

See below to check which candidates are running to become inspectors or judges of elections based on ward and division.

Unsure which Philadelphia election ward and division you’re in? Use the city’s Atlas tool to look up your ward and division number, along with your polling place.

 

In Bucks County, residents will weigh in on the race for district attorney. Incumbent District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, a Republican, faces Democratic challenger Joe Khan.

» READ MORE: What Bucks County voters need to know about DA Jennifer Schorn and Democratic challenger Joe Khan

Also in Bucks County: Incumbent Sheriff Fred Harran, a Republican, faces Democratic challenger Danny Ceisler.

» READ MORE: What Bucks County voters need to know about Sheriff Fred Harran and Democratic challenger Danny Ceisler

In Delaware County, two seats are up for grabs on the county council.

Republicans Brian Burke and Liz Piazza are challenging Democratic incumbent Richard Womack and Joanna Phillips.

» READ MORE: What Delaware County voters need to know about the council race

Below is a look at ballot questions facing suburban Philadelphia voters:

Chester County

Montgomery County

» READ MORE: What are the ballot questions facing suburban Philly voters?

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