Allegheny County election phone lines jammed with more than 7,000 calls a day

If you have a question about voting in Allegheny County and want to talk to someone on the phone, be prepared to get a busy signal or wait a while.

“We have expanded phone lines, are utilizing a call center and a queue, but the demand is still greater. We are also receiving hundreds of voicemails each evening and are working as quickly as we can to move through them,” county spokeswoman Amie Downs said Monday, which is the deadline to register to vote for the general election.

The county has been receiving about 7,000 calls daily and hundreds of emails, Downs said, and county employees are working to answer them as quickly as they can.

Many of the callers are asking questions that are answered on the county’s online elections portal. Otherwise, Downs advises people to be patient.

For those who want to return their mail-in or absentee ballots in person, they can do so at the County Office Building lobby from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Monday through Friday through Nov. 2, and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can park for free for 15 minutes on Ross Street to return their ballots.

Voting at @Allegheny_Co’s County Office Building, #Pittsburgh?

We’re providing FREE voter parking on Ross Street between Court Place - Second Avenue & Fourth Avenue! pic.twitter.com/IloKXfp1fz

— City of Pittsburgh (@Pittsburgh) October 18, 2020

Voters also have one more chance to return their mail-in or absentee ballots on the weekend at four satellite sites around the county, plus the County Office Building.

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From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, voters can return ballots at these locations:

• Boyce Park, 790 Center Road, Plum
• CCAC Allegheny, 845 Allegheny Ave., North Side Pittsburgh
• CCAC South, 1750 Clairton Road, West Mifflin
• County Office Building, 542 Forbes Ave., Downtown Pittsburgh
• North Park Ice Rink, 1200 Pearce Mill Road, Pine

The ballots must be presented by the voter. You cannot deliver the ballot of a friend, family member or any other voter.

Registered voters can also vote “over the counter” at these locations: They can complete a mail-in ballot application, have it processed, receive a ballot and cast their vote on the spot. To do so, voters must provide their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. The process takes about 15 minutes.

RELATED: How to vote in Election 2020: A user’s guide

As of Sunday, Allegheny County has approved about 379,000 mail-in, absentee, overseas and military applications for ballots. Of those, about 269,000 are registered as Democrats, 73,000 Republicans, 350 Green and 1,100 Libertarian. About 35,000 have another political affiliation.

About 197,000 ballots have been returned as of Sunday.

Of those returned ballots, about 153,000 have been from registered Democrats, 29,000 from Republicans, 150 from Green and 400 Libertarian. About 15,000 of the returned ballots have been from a person with another political affiliation.

Once returned, the ballots are transported with a police escort to the county elections warehouse, where they are stored in a locked room.

Elections officials will open and prepare ballots for counting at 7 a.m. Election Day. The results won’t be reported until the polls are closed.

The deadline to register to vote in the election is Monday, Oct. 19. The deadline to apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot is 5 p.m. Oct. 27.

The polls will also be open as usual from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 3).

To find your polling location, click here.

Voters will be asked to wear face coverings. Social distancing precautions will be in place.

For more from Allegheny County about what to expect while voting and to view instructional videos, click here.