SMETHPORT — This is a year of change for voting in Pennsylvania.

Lisa Pratt, McKean County director of elections, outlined some of the changes at the Tuesday morning meeting of the McKean County commissioners. The voting reforms were part of Act 77, signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf last autumn.

For one, voting machines will no longer offer the option of straight party voting in November. Pratt explained that people “can still vote for all one party” — they will just have to vote for each office individually.

Additionally, the application deadline is now 15 days, rather than 30, prior to an election. This gives voters more time to sign up.

One of the biggest changes, according to Pratt, is the addition of mail-in ballots. These are different than absentee ballots, an option that was only open to people who had a physical disability or were going to be out of their voting municipality on election day.

There is one requirement to qualify to vote via mail-in ballot: Mail-in ballots are an option for any registered Pennsylvania voter who does not qualify for an absentee ballot. Voters do not need to provide a reason for voting by mail-in ballot.

The deadline to return a mail-in ballot is 8 p.m. on election day. All ballots returned that day must go directly to the McKean County Courthouse in Smethport; voters will not be able to drop them off at their polling location, Pratt explained.

She said people can apply for an absentee or mail-in ballot online at votespa.com using a valid driver’s license number or Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ID number.

The mail-in ballot option will be available by the April 28 Pennsylvania primary election, but they will not be available for any special elections occurring before that date, according to votespa.com.

Anyone who applies for a mail-in or absentee ballot can request to receive all ballots through the remainder of the year.

Commissioner Cliff Lane wondered how the changes will affect when official election results are available. In the past, county officials have typically provided their counts by the Friday after the election.

The new mail-in options means that the process of counting election results is more complicated for the county’s department of voter registration and elections, as those ballots will be counted at the courthouse rather than at the individual polls.

With all the changes, Pratt is unsure how long counting will take, but noted she is working on new processes to make counting mail-in and absentee ballots quicker.

“No one’s quite certain on how it’s going to look,” she said of the process.

She explained that, by law, counting must begin by three days after the election and can last through eight days after the election. However, the military deadline is later still, she said.

While some counties with more staff may begin counting mail-in and absentee ballots on election night, McKean County will not, Pratt said.

“We will definitely not do anything until after election day,” she said.

Also at the meeting, Commissioner Tom Kreiner provided a brief update regarding the 2020 census.

With the importance that census results have on federal funding to the county, a committee has formed to promote census survey participation locally. Kreiner said they’ve purchased posters, flyers and pamphlets to aid promotion efforts. The census begins April 1.

After the presentations, the commissioners had a short list of business items to address.

They approved four equipment-related agreements, pending legal review. As per a request from the recorder of deeds office, they approved maintenance agreements for $280 each with Karpinski’s Office Systems for two copiers. Also, the Child Advocacy Center requested a maintenance agreement for $1,999 for a camera for specialized medical examinations for the First Step Clinic at Bradford Regional Medical Center. The last was a support agreement with FTR for court recording systems for three rooms for $699 per room.

Regarding human resources, there was one person who left employment with the county: Travis Thurston, who worked as a juvenile probation officer.

The next commissioners meeting will be at 10 a.m. March 10.