Yes, you could always go to the county court house, in person, and request a mail in ballot once they were available, and once you had the ballot you could fill it out and submit it right away if you liked. That’s always been an option.
This sattelite location where they are handing out mail in ballots is something I have never seen or heard of before.. It may be something that’s always existed, but I know i’ve never ever personally seen or heard of such a thing.
IT could be my ignorance, or as I said they made major changes in the laws about mail in/absentee ballots back in 2020. Up until 2020, you needed a REASON to get a mail in ballot... (Health, out of town, etc) after 2020 they changed the laws so that anyone could vote absentee/mail in without needing to provide justification, as well as other changes.
This whole satelite location to get your absentee/mail in ballot thing is something I have never seen or known about. It may indeed have always been something the counties do, but it sure is not something I have ever seen or known about. Or it could be something that is newer and part of the changes made in 2020.
Either way, just more evidence of how screwed up PA is. As I said, unlike GA or other states who have real legitimate In Person early voting... Pa does not, they have this kind of kludge that you can get a mail in ballot in person early and submit it on the spot. Of course PA still has not made it illegal to pay canvasers who register voters by commission either...
PA is just a screwed up place.
It sounds similar to what we can do in Florida.
We can early vote (I did Sunday) or you can request a ‘mail-in absentee ballot’ that you can fill out at your leisure at home or wherever. Then drop it in the collection box(es) at the Election Office(s) in a sealed envelope. They will be opened on Election night or the next day as counting progresses.
But you still have to go through all the ID and confirmation process to obtain that ballot, picture ID, signature verification, etc...............