The share of votes cast by mail ballot in Pennsylvania declined for both Democratic and Republican candidates in this month's gubernatorial election compared with the 2024 presidential election.
Just over 30% of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s votes in November came by mail, compared to more than 37% for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024.
The same trend can be seen among Republican voters. More than 11% of votes for Republican gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity were cast by mail, compared with about 19% of votes for President Donald Trump in 2024.
In Centre County, about 32% of the votes for Shapiro were cast from mail-in ballot, compared with around 38% for Harris in 2024. And almost 13% of votes for Garrity came by mail-in ballot, down from approximately 20% for Trump.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking new restrictions on mail-in ballots.
The order directed the U.S. Postal Service to screen ballot requests against lists of approved voters submitted by states and to add new tracking barcodes to ballot envelopes.
Courts blocked the proposed changes, but the order contributed to uncertainty surrounding mail voting.
A poll from NPR/PBS News/Marist found that trust in USPS's ability to deliver election mail on time dropped by 13 percentage points since 2024.
Margie Swoboda, chair of the Centre County Democratic Committee, said the committee initially heard concerns from voters about mailing their ballots.
“We were a little concerned at the beginning, but then, when people started telling us that they mailed it in and, you know, everything went well, we said, ‘Okay, that's good,’” Swoboda said.
Swoboda said local election administration is important in maintaining public confidence in the voting process.
“The states have control over elections. That's critical that people remember that. It is literally your neighbors that are running the polls for us,” she said.
The committee trained poll observers to monitor procedures at all precincts in the county. Swoboda said they reported that the election process went smoothly.
The Centre County Board of Elections is scheduled to audit 2% of election results Thursday. The board plans to certify the results Tuesday, Nov. 17.