Those considering participation in the democratic process have run out of time to ponder.

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 8 general election is Monday.

“All eligible Pennsylvanians who are not yet registered to vote can still register to make sure their voice is heard in the Nov. 8 general election, but they should act fast,” said Leigh M. Chapman, acting secretary of state.

To be eligible to vote, Pennsylvanians must be:

* A U.S. citizen for at least one month before the election.

* A resident of Pennsylvania and their election district for at least 30 days before the election.

* At least 18 years old by the date of the election.

Adam Price, poll worker and precinct coordinator at the Butler County Bureau of Elections, said eligible residents can register to vote at the county elections office in the Butler County Government Center or online at vote.pa.gov.

All registrations must be in by 5 p.m. on Monday, he said.

As of Friday, about 135,000 people were registered to vote in the county, but Price said workers would continue to process registration requests on Monday.

“That number is up, but not significantly,” he said.

Voters can vote at the polls, vote by mail or vote early by applying for a mail-in ballot at the county elections office, filling it in, and giving it back to the elections worker.

“We are approaching 20,000 mail-in applications,” Price said. “More than any non-presidential election, but significantly less than the 2020 election.”

He said Nov. 1 is the deadline for mail-in applications to be submitted at the election bureau.

Price said the elections bureau is receiving many phone calls from people wondering when they will receive their mail-in ballots. He stressed that the calls are slowing down the process, and that most of the ballots are in the mail and should be arriving soon.

“Certainly, we encourage people to vote, one way or another,” Price said. “If they choose to go to the polling place, great, but there is the option for the mail-in if they choose to do that.”