Almost 39,000 voters in Butler County will be voting by mail.

That's the word from Aaron Sheasley, director of the county's Bureau of Elections.

Sheasley said almost 25,000 voted by mail in the primary election in June.

He said he will not know until after Election Day Nov. 3 the number of Republicans and Democrats who voted by mail.

“I haven't done an analysis by party simply because it is not relevant to approving the (mail-in ballot) request,” Sheasley said. “After the election, I will look at it.”

He said Oct. 27 is the last day to apply for a mail-in ballot, but he said those who wish to vote by mail should send or bring in their applications as soon as possible to ensure timely processing.

Mail-in ballots also can be brought to the elections bureau in the county government center up until 8 p.m. Election Day, Sheasley said.

No drop boxes or ballot boxes will be used and those bringing their ballots in must present their official identification or power of attorney documents if they are bringing in another's ballot.

Sheasley said when ballots come in, they are locked in a special room and cannot be touched by anyone, including himself, until Election Day.

He said sending out ballots was impossible until a lawsuit holding up the ballot's certification in Harrisburg was resolved.

On Thursday, the state Supreme Court issued three rulings — extending the deadline for absentee ballots, allowing more drop boxes and removing the Green Party candidate from the presidential ballot. The ballots can now be printed.

Sheasley said they will be printed in Pittsburgh and mailed out as soon as possible to voters who have been approved to vote by mail.

“The printing time and turnaround time is a matter of days,” he said.

Once printed, workers at the elections bureau will stuff a large envelope with the ballot, a secrecy envelope that the completed ballot goes in, voting instructions and the envelope the voter will use to send the completed ballot back to the elections bureau.

“Assembling that kit takes a little bit of time,” Sheasley said.

The envelopes that could be printed ahead of time were completed while the bureau waited for the state Supreme Court to make a ruling and the Department of State, in turn, to certify the ballots.

The Department of State also extended the ballot counting deadline to Nov. 6, so elections bureaus will not be forced to try and count all the mail-in ballots after the polls close on Election Day.

Among all the chaos, one bright spot in the 2020 General Election season, Sheasley said, is the increase in young people who have shown interest in serving as a poll worker.

Sheasley said all 89 precincts in the county will be open and staffed with poll workers, due to the influx of younger individuals willing to work the polls.

“We're very excited about that,” said Sheasley, whose goal as an elections bureau director is to engage more young people in the elections process.

He said the county has seen a dramatic uptick in the number of people who registered to vote, either for the first time or who haven't voted in several years.

Regarding those who plan to vote at the polls, Sheasley said all coronavirus pandemic protocols followed in the primary will be repeated in November.

Voters will also notice plexiglass panels hanging between themselves and the poll workers checking off their names.

“There are a lot of people who want to vote in person and they are certainly welcome to do so,” Sheasley said.