Submitted a mail-in ballot in Pennsylvania? Here's how you can check the status

If you are among the thousands of Pennsylvania voters who cast mail-in ballots for the 2024 general election, there are several methods by which you can check the status of your ballot online.

Here's how to check the status of your mail-in ballot to ensure that your vote for either presidential candidate Kamala Harris or Donald Trump — along with votes in down-ballot races in Pennsylvania — have been received and processed.

How do I check the status of my mail-in ballot?

Voters in Pennsylvania have several ways to check the status of their mail-in ballot online.

• Pennsylvania Department of State: On this website, you will need to enter your full name, birth date and county. Once entering that information, you will be shown the status of your mail-in ballot.
• Vote PA: Through this web portal ran by Vote PA, an official Pennsylvania voter resource, you will need to enter your full name, e-mail address and zip code to retrieve your results.

What does the status of my mail-in ballot say?

Once you request the status of your mail-in ballot, you will receive a status message with several columns, regarding your vote:

• Application Received: Means your mail-in ballot has been received by your respective county election office.
• Application Processed: Includes the date on which your county election office processed your mail-in ballot.
• Ballot Received by County: The date when your county election office received your mail-in ballot.
• Status: Perhaps the most important entry on the status report for your mail-in ballot. The Status column should indicate "record-ballot returned," if your mail-in ballot has been accepted, received and processed.

"If you provide your email address to your county election office at the time you register to vote or apply for a mail ballot, you may receive an email notification when your returned ballot is received," read the Pennsylvania Department of State's website, "as well as information about your ballot status, depending on county practices."

Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic Region.