Westmoreland County voters could see primary ballots arrive in their mailboxes as early as next week, officials said on Tuesday.

Election Bureau director Scott Ross said the county to date has processed more than 21,000 mail-in ballot applications leading up to the May 20 Democratic and Republican primaries, where voters will nominate candidates for state judge, county row offices, borough councils, township supervisors and school boards.

“Ballots will be mailed out this week and voters will start to see them arrive early next week,” Ross said.

The number of applications for no-excuse mail-in ballots in this spring’s primary is significantly smaller from the more than 55,000 residents who voted remotely in last November’s presidential election.

As of Tuesday, nearly 14,400 Democrats and 6,800 Republicans requested mail-in ballots for the primary. Voters have until May 13 to apply for a mail-in ballot. The deadline to register to vote is May 5.

Voters who want to vote in person at the courthouse prior to Election Day via a mail-in ballot will be able to do so sometime next week, Ross said.

Westmoreland’s three commissioners, acting as the county’s election board, on Tuesday approved extending the election bureau’s hours of operation at the county courthouse in Greensburg for the two weeks before the primary. Starting Sunday, May 4, the bureau’s courthouse office will be open on weekends 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., excluding Mother’s Day on May 11, and on weekdays, through May 19, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

On May 20, Election Day, the bureau will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Precinct changes

Three of the county’s 306 voting precincts will be relocated for the primary.

Ross said the Calvin Presbyterian Church on Maus Road in North Huntingdon, which hosted two precincts, underwent recent renovations that rendered the facility unable to meet handicapped accessible requirements. Voters in the township’s 4-1 precinct will vote this spring at the Circleville Fire Hall on Robbins Station Road. The 4-4 precinct will move to the Norwin School District Administration Building on McMahon Drive.

Meanwhile, Ross said the Vandergrift No. 2 precinct will move from its previous location at The Center on Franklin to the Vandergrift Presbyterian Church on Washington Avenue.