More than 1.1 million Pennsylvanians requested mail ballots this cycle.
Ahead of November’s election, Republicans have seen an increase in mail ballot requests by voters.
More than 1.1 million voters had requested a mail ballot as of Monday, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
The amount of mail ballot requests is up by 17% since the 2021 municipal election, and up 9% since 2023.
“The numbers struck me. Having that type of activity at this point does suggest that voters are a bit more engaged this time around,” said Chris Borick, a professor of political science at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
Democrats account for 66% of mail ballot requests this year.
However, Republicans are driving the increase in mail ballot requests ahead of this election. Registered Republicans requested 277,000 mail ballots, up from 205,000 in 2021. This represents a 35% increase in Republican requests for mail ballots.
Democrats saw an increase of 9% in total mail ballots requested by their registered voters.
As of Monday, both Republicans and Democrats had returned about 52.5% of their requested mail ballots.
One possible reason for an increase in mail ballot requests is the judicial retention election that will determine whether three Supreme Court justices and two lower court justices will stay on the bench for another term.
Republicans have been encouraging voters to vote no on the question of retention for the justices, who were originally elected as Democrats.
The retention election has received attention at the national level and could be a driver of a higher election turnout this cycle.
“I’m confident that the Republican efforts to reach out to the voters and make them more comfortable with mail ballots has shown some results. Now, again, will those be some different voters? I think Republicans are optimistic it will maybe get on the margins, some folks that wouldn’t have shown up… and therefore add to their totals,” said Borick.
