Elections staff outline May 20 primary plans; drop‑boxes, mail‑in deadlines and possible Lehigh satellite discussed

Elections staff told the Election Integrity Committee on March 20 that Northampton County is finalizing preparations for the municipal primary on Tuesday, May 20, including voter registration and mail‑in deadlines, drop‑box locations and testing requirements.

The office briefed the committee on key dates: voters must be registered as Democrat or Republican to vote in the primary and may change party affiliation through May 5; the deadline to apply for a mail‑in or absentee ballot is May 13; and polls will be open on election day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Officials said they mailed about 66,000 “permanent letters” in February to people who requested to receive mail‑in ballot applications for 2025 and have processed roughly 17,600 returned applications so far. The staff emphasized that the Department of State directive required envelopes to show “2024” printed on them and that the county will continue that practice for 2025 per the state requirement.

Drop boxes and polling places

The county expects to keep seven secured drop‑box locations for 2025, all under camera surveillance and transported daily by sheriff’s deputies. The seven locations cited by staff were: the Courthouse rotunda; the Human Services Building; the 9‑1‑1 Center;…