2024 Primary Election: What Delco Voters Need To Know

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Officials in Delaware County have issued their final guidance on the primary election Tuesday.

Polls will open at all 259 polling locations at 7 a.m. and remain open until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Sample ballots, a candidate list and other resources are available online here.

Polling place resources, including an interactive map, downloadable list if PDF format, and a lookup tool are available at online here.

While a small number of polling places change from election to election due to feedback from the community, construction, and other reasons, the vast majority of polling places typically remain unchanged.

These new polling places for the election include:

• Brookhaven 2 - Brookhaven Municipal Center, 2 Cambridge Road
• Darby Township 5-1 and 5-2 - Delaware County Community Center, 767 Beech Ave.
• Haverford 5-3 - Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Ave., Swan Multipurpose Room (Room change)
• Nether Providence 4-1 and 4-2, Strath Haven High School Cafeteria - Use Brookhaven Road entrance
• Tinicum 5 - Tinicum Township Municipal Building, 629 N. Governor Printz Boulevard
• Trainer Lennox Park, Trainer Lower, Trainer Upper - New Trainer Borough Municipal Building, 4300 Township Line
• Chester City 1-2 and 1-8 - Parkside Fire Co., 107 W. Roland Road
• Chester City 2-4 and 5-2 - Gilbert's Ballroom, 705 E. 11th St.

By law, voters must go to their designated precinct polling site to vote in-person on election day.

All precincts will have Electronic Poll Books with the capacity to give voters at the wrong site information on their correct polling place.

Voters and poll workers at all 428 precincts will have e-pollbooks. These were first introduced to approximately 39 percent of the county precincts during the Nov. 7, 2023 General Election.

All mail/absentee ballots requested have been mailed. Voters who requested their mail/absentee requested shortly before or on the April 16 deadline should have received their mail/absentee ballot by no later than Saturday, April 20. Residents who have applied to vote with a mail/absentee and have not yet received the ballot should contact the Election Hotline at 610-891-8683, or visit the Voter Service Center in the Government Center Building at 201 W. Front St. in Media.

Ballots mailed through the United States Postal Service in the final days leading up to Election Day, or on Election Day, are unlikely to reach the county by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Ballots delivered after 8 p.m. on Election Day, regardless of the postmark date, cannot be counted.

Delaware County voters who have yet to return their mail/absentee ballot may use any of the more than three dozen ballot drop boxes located throughout Delaware County or in-person at the Voter Service Center, located on the first floor of the Government Center Building at 201 W. Front St., in Media.

The Voter Service Center is open on Election Day, Tuesday, April 23, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Services include emergency absentee service and replacements for ballots that voters did not receive, or that they damaged, lost or mismarked.

Delaware County voters may return their mail/absentee ballot at any of the more than three dozen secured drop boxes located in municipalities across the County.

Ballot drop boxes are located at safe, secure, ADA-compliant locations and are under video surveillance. Ballot drop boxes are large white metal receptacles, similar in size to a USPS mailbox, and clearly marked with the wording "Official Ballot Drop Box" and"Delaware County Board of Elections."

These drop boxes are designed for only one use: The return of mail/absentee ballots by Delaware County voters in the weeks before and including Election Day. Postage is not required to return a Delaware County mail/absentee ballot.

A list of drop box locations (and hours of operation) was included with the mail/absentee ballots mailed by the county and online here. Most ballot drop boxes are open 24/7 through Election Day.

The Chadds Ford box closes at 4 p.m. each weekday, including Election Day. Ridley Park Borough Hall, however, which typically closes at 4 p.m., will remain open until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.

The deadline for voters to return their mail/absentee ballots at the Voter Service Center or an official Delaware County ballot drop box is 8 p.m. on Election Day, April 23.

Voters are reminded that they can return only their own ballot. Voters cannot return ballots for spouses, family members, or other individuals—unless an official ‘3rd Party Delivery Form’ (also called the “Authorize a Designated Agent to Help You Obtain and/or Return Your Mail-in or Absentee Ballot”). Voters who attempt to return ballots on behalf of other voters without authorization will be referred to the Delaware County District Attorney for investigation.

Voters who are casting a mail/absentee ballot must mark their ballots in blue or black ink. Once the ballot has been completed, voters should place the ballot into the yellow secrecy envelope, seal that yellow secrecy 0envelope, and then place that item into the larger purple-and-white pre-paid return envelope. Voters must also complete the voter declaration section on the exterior of the purple-and-white return envelope, being sure to include their signature and today’s date. The lack of a proper date or signature can disqualify the ballot.

Ballots returned without using the yellow secrecy envelope are called "Naked Ballots" and cannot be counted.

Mail/Absentee ballots that are reviewed and determined to be flawed (damaged, unsigned, undated, improperly dated, unsealed, or not placed in the yellow “secrecy envelope” before being placed in the larger purple-and-white “Ballot Return Envelope”) are segregated, and the Bureau of Elections attempts to contact voters to give the voter a chance to obtain a new ballot at the Voter Service Center or request a replacement mailed ballot, if time permits. Any mail/absentee ballot with a legal flaw will be disqualified. By law, the Delaware County Bureau of Elections is prevented from processing the ballots from flawed envelopes.

Voters who have received notice from the Bureau of Elections that their ballot envelope is flawed must correct the ballot in-person at the Voter Service Center, located on the 1st floor of the Government Center Building, at 201 W. Front St., in Media, PA. Voters who are notified of a flawed mail/absentee ballot also may cast a provisional ballot at their precinct polling place on Election Day.

Military and overseas voters must complete their ballot and submit it for delivery by mail no later than 11:59 p.m. on the day before Election Day. The Bureau of Elections can receive timely-mailed military and overseas absentee ballots until close of business a week after Election Day.

Unofficial results for each election—including primary, general, municipal, and special elections—are posted on the Delco Votes Election Results web page online here, starting at or about 8:20 p.m. on election night.

Results are only considered official upon certification by the Pennsylvania Department of State.

Visitors to the Election Results web page will notice a new look for the Primary Election. To view votes from precinct, mail and provisional categories, click on a contest (such as “United States Senator”) and then click on the “Vote Types” tab below the map.

Delaware County Elections maintains an Election Hotline at 610-891-8683. The hotline is staffed by trained employees prepared to answer Delaware County residents' questions and provide a variety of services, and is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Election Hotline will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to midnight.

Voters who have concerns regarding voting irregularities can call the Delaware County Election Hotline at 610-891-8683. Voters who witness what they believe to be criminal activity are asked to call the Delaware County District Attorney’s office at 610-891-4184.

The Delaware County Voter Service Center is open and will provide a variety of in-person voter services on weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon. On Election Day only, the Voter Service Center will open at 7 a.m. and remain open through the close of polls at 8 p.m.

For more election information, voters are reminded that the Delaware County’s election website — Delco Votes! — provides news, sample ballots, ballot drop box locations, polling location information, access to downloadable and online forms, livestreams, and recordings of Board of Elections meetings, and more online here.