Elections were held in Pennsylvania on November 3, 2020. On that date, the state held elections for President of the United States, U.S. House of Representatives, Pennsylvania State Senate, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and various others.
The office of the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth oversaw the election process, including voting and vote counting. To vote by mail, registered Pennsylvania voters had to request a ballot by October 27, 2020. By early October, 2,568,084 voters requested mail ballots.
Election law changes for 2020
On October 29, 2019, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed Act 77 by a vote of 138–61."Details for House RCS No. 781". Pennsylvania House of Representatives October 29, 2019. Later that day, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed Act 77 by a vote of 35–14."Details for Senate RCS No. 311". Pennsylvania State Senate. October 29, 2019. Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 77 into law two days later.Murphy, Jan (October 31, 2019). "Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf signs historic election reform bill into law". pennlive.com. Advance Local Media LLC. The law enacted numerous changes to Pennsylvania's election code. Voters were allowed to request a mail-in ballot without providing a reason. A person could register to vote up to 15 days before an election and vote in that election, instead of the previous 30-day period. It said that mail-in ballots and absentee ballots would be valid if received by 8 p.m. on election day. The law eliminated the option of pushing one button to vote for all candidates of the same party, called straight-ticket voting; instead, a voter would need to select each candidate in order to vote the same way. The law said the state would cover up to 60percent of the cost for counties to replace their voting machines with systems that had voter-verifiable paper. Governor Wolf described the changes as the "most significant improvement to Pennsylvania’s elections in more than 80 years".
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania State Senate both unanimously passed Act 12 on March 25, 2020,"Details for House RCS No. 1139". Pennsylvania House of Representatives. March 25, 2020."Details for Senate RCS No. 414". Pennsylvania State Senate. March 25, 2020. and Gov. Wolf signed it into law two days later."Gov. Wolf signs COVID-19 response bills to reschedule Primary Election & bolster Health Care system, workers, and education". Fox 43. WPMT March 27, 2020. Act 12 delayed the primary election from April 28 to June 2. Act 12 also allowed counties to begin counting ballots at 7 a.m. on election day rather than being required to wait until 8 p.m. to do so.
Federal offices
President and Vice President of the United States
Pennsylvania had 20 electoral votes in the Electoral College. Incumbent Republican Donald Trump won the state in 2016 with 48.2% of the vote.
United States House of Representatives Voters in Pennsylvania elected 18 candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the 18 congressional districts. +DistrictDemocratic nomineeRepublican nomineeLibertarian nomineeIndependent candidatesDistrict 1Christina FinelloBrian Fitzpatrick, incumbentSteve Scheetz (write-in)District 2Brendan Boyle, incumbentDavid TorresDistrict 3Dwight Evans, incumbentMichael HarveyDistrict 4Madeleine Dean, incumbentKathy BernetteJoe Tarshish (write-in)District 5Mary Gay Scanlon, incumbentDasha PruettDistrict 6Chrissy Houlahan, incumbentJohn EmmonsJohn H. McHugh (write-in)District 7Susan Wild, incumbentLisa SchellerAnthony Sayegh (write-in)District 8Matt Cartwright, incumbentJim BognetDistrict 9Gary WegmanDan Meuser, incumbentDistrict 10Eugene DePasqualeScott Perry, incumbentDistrict 11Sarah HammondLloyd Smucker, incumbentDistrict 12Lee GriffinFred Keller, incumbentElizabeth Terwilliger (write-in)District 13Todd RowleyJohn Joyce, incumbentDistrict 14William MarxGuy Reschenthaler, incumbentDistrict 15Robert WilliamsRonnie Ray Jenkins (write-in)Glenn Thompson, incumbentDistrict 16Kristy GnibusMike Kelly, incumbentDistrict 17Conor Lamb, incumbentSean Parnell District 18Michael Doyle, incumbentLuke NegronDonald Nevills (write-in)Daniel Vayda (write-in)
State offices
Executive offices Three executive offices were up for election in Pennsylvania's general election: auditor general, attorney general, and treasurer.
Attorney general
Incumbent Democratic attorney general Josh Shapiro ran for re-election to a second term. He was first elected in 2016 with 51.4% of the vote.
Treasurer
Incumbent Democratic treasurer Joe Torsella ran for re-election to a second term. He was first elected in 2016 with 50.7% of the vote. He lost re-election to businesswoman and retired U.S. Army Colonel Stacy Garrity.
Auditor General
Incumbent Democratic Auditor General Eugene DePasquale was term-limited and ineligible to seek a third consecutive term. He was re-elected in 2016 with 50.0% of the vote. Dauphin County controller Timothy DeFoor won the election against former Philadelphia deputy mayor Nina Ahmad.
Pennsylvania Senate 25 of 50 seats (odd-numbered districts) in the Pennsylvania Senate were up for election in Pennsylvania's general election.
Special elections A special election was also held on January 14 in the 48th senatorial district after the resignation of Republican senator Mike Folmer.
Pennsylvania House of Representatives All 203 seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives were up for election in the general election.
Special elections Special elections were held for the 8th, 18th, 58th, and 190th districts prior to the general election.
Pennsylvania ballot measures There were no statewide ballot measures up for election in this general election; however, there were local ballot measures in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
See also Postal voting in the United States, 2020 Elections in Pennsylvania Electoral reform in Pennsylvania Bilingual elections requirement for Pennsylvania (per Voting Rights Act Amendments of 2006) Political party strength in Pennsylvania Politics of Pennsylvania
References
Further reading
External links
(State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
. (Guidance to help voters get to the polls; addresses transport, childcare, work, information challenges) , Pennsylvania General Assembly