{"id":305970,"date":"2026-10-13T20:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/305970\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T20:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:22:13","slug":"erie-county-voter-guide-what-to-know-before-election-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/305970\/","title":{"rendered":"Erie County voter guide: What to know before Election Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity.<\/p>\n

Provided by Commonwealth Media S<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Network, Reuters<\/p>\n

Voters in Erie County will go to the polls in person Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

Poll hours across the state are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The deadline to submit a mail ballot is 8 p.m. on Election Day.<\/p>\n

There is no-excuse mail-in voting allowed in the state, and the deadline to register to vote is Oct. 19.<\/p>\n

Follow GoErie.com throughout Election Day for local and state news and updates. Return once the polls close at 8 p.m. for more frequent reports throughout the night.<\/p>\n

How to vote in the 2026 General Election<\/p>\n

Voters can check their registration at the Department of State’s website. The deadline to change registration information is Oct. 19. The deadline to apply for a mail ballot is Oct. 27 at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

Polling locations (see below) and sample ballots are available on the Erie County Dept. of Elections website. Three Erie County polling locations have changed since the May primary. Voters can check the status of their mail ballot on the Department of State’s website.<\/p>\n

Key election stories<\/p>\n

How Erie County voters can cast ballots before Election Day<\/p>\n

According to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, registered voters can request, receive, vote and submit a mail-in or absentee ballot in one visit to the county election office.<\/p>\n

The election office is located in Room 112 of the Erie County Courthouse, at 140 W. Sixth St., also known as the Voter Registration\/Elections Office.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania primary results set stage for November races<\/p>\n

Erie County’s May 19 primary lacked a marquee local race, but the results set the stage for a Nov. 3 general election that includes contested races for Pennsylvania governor; lieutenant governor; Congress; and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

Races to Watch<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Governor<\/p>\n

Even-year elections, as they go in Pennsylvania, are either a high-drama presidential contest in America’s most valuable battleground state or a governor’s race.<\/p>\n

The Keystone State’s gubernatorial contest always falls on a midterm year, allowing the race to be the commonwealth’s highest-profile election Nov. 3. On occasional midterm years, Pennsylvania voters elect a U.S. senator.<\/p>\n

Shapiro vastly outraises, outspends Garrity in Pa. governor racePa. Gov. Shapiro: Congress, federal government must regulate AIHow Stacy Garrity would tackle Pennsylvania’s housing shortage4 takeaways from the Shapiro-Garrity governor debate<\/p>\n

Contested local races to watch<\/p>\n

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Butler, who was first elected in 2010, will face Mercer County Democrat Justin Wagner, an engineer and U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq, in the race for the 16th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Democrat Ryan Bizzarro of Millcreek Township, who has represented the district since 2013, faces Republican Donna Reese in November. The 3rd District includes Millcreek and Fairview townships.<\/p>\n

In the 4th District, incumbent Republican Jake Banta of LeBoeuf Township is seeking a third term. He faces Democrat Kathryn DiVittorio of Corry. The district includes the city of Corry; Edinboro, Elgin, Girard, Lake City, McKean, Mill Village, North East, Platea, Union City, Waterford, and Wattsburg boroughs; Amity, Concord, Franklin, Girard, Greenfield, Leboeuf, McKean, North East, Union, Venango, Washington, Waterford and Wayne townships.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Republican Brad Roae is seeking re-election to the 6th District seat; he will face Democrat and fellow Crawford County resident Michael Walker in November. The 6th District represents Albion and Cranesville boroughs and Springfield, Conneaut and Elk Creek townships in Erie County as well as Meadville, Conneaut Lake, Linesville and Conneautville in Crawford County.<\/p>\n

Also on the ballot are Democratic State Reps. Pat Harkins and Bob Merski, both of Erie, both ran unopposed. There was no Republican candidate on the ballot. Harkins is seeking his 11th term as 1st District representative. The district includes five Erie wards and Lawrence Park Township.<\/p>\n

Merski is eyeing re-election to a fifth term as the 2nd District state House representative. The 2nd District includes Erie’s 5th Ward, Wesleyville Borough, and Summit, Greene and Harborcreek townships. <\/p>\n

Election Day at a glance<\/p>\n

Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026Polls open: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.Voter registration deadline: Oct. 19, 2026Mail ballot application deadline: Oct. 27, 2026Mail ballots due: 8 p.m. Nov. 3, 2026<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County voter guide: What to know before Election Day<\/p>\n

Reporting by Erie Times-News \/ Erie Times-News<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

\"A A voter casts his ballot at Trinity Lutheran Church in Erie on election day, Nov. 5, 2024. GREG WOHLFORD\/ERIE TIMES-NEWS USA TODAY Network, Reuters <\/p>\n

Copyright Reuters or USA Today via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

This story was originally published October 13, 2026 at 5:12 AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity. Provided by Commonwealth Media S USA TODAY Network, Reuters Voters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-305970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}