In the month since online voter registration started in Pennsylvania, more than 220 people in Butler County have used the process.

“It’s actually not bad, considering that it’s fairly new,” said Shari Brewer, director of the county elections bureau, about the number of people who have signed up.

In August, Gov. Tom Wolf announced the state would be the 23rd in the United States to provide online voter registration. Since then, about 15,000 people in the state have signed up or changed their registration online.

“It’s an incredibly successful story,” said Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro Cortes.

Cortes said about 40 percent of the people who have used the online system have used it for updates to their address or party affiliation. He said this is important because easily updated voter information can make the lines at the polls go smoother on Election Day and reduce the use of provisional ballots.

He said the new system is convenient, easy to use and will save time and money for the state because it uses less paper.

In the county, Brewer said 67 of the applicants were new applicants, while the remainder were people who changed their address or party affiliation.

She said the bureau has not done any specific promotion to let county residents know they can register online.

“We’re just so much in election mode that we haven’t had the time,” Brewer said.

However, she said online registration information is posted on the bureau’s website and staff are telling people who call about it.

Ed Natali, chairman of the county Republican Committee, said the GOP has not done any official online registration programs, but said registration always is a top priority for the committee and said it hopes to take advantage of the new method to sign people up.

“We haven’t done anything formally,” Natali said.

He said the committee is supportive of it, saying online registration can be a great asset as long as it is managed well.

“I think more people will register,” Natali said.

Georgiann Kerr, chairwoman of the Butler County Democratic Committee, said her committee will do phone banks in October for its candidates and will tell people about online registration at the same time. Additionally, the committee has been doing outreach about the process during events such as the Butler Fall Festival.

“It’s very exciting,” Kerr said.

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, of Cranberry Township said although both Republicans and Democrats have introduced legislation to authorize online registration, Wolf made the decision to offer it.

“I do not believe that Gov. Wolf has the full statutory authority to implement it as designed,” Metcalfe said in an e-mail.

Metcalfe, chairman of the House State Government Committee, said he will hold a joint meeting with the same committee in the Senate about the system and said Cortes will be in attendance to answer questions.

To register to vote online, go to www.register.votespa.com and complete the form. To vote in the Nov. 3 election, the last day to register is Oct. 5.