Pennsylvanians scurry to fix mail-in ballots after ruling
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Some of Pennsylvania's largest counties were among those working Monday to help voters fix mail-in ballots that have fatal flaws such as incorrect dates or missing signatures on the envelopes used to send them in.
Elections officials in Philadelphia and Allegheny, which includes Pittsburgh, announced measures they were taking in response to state Supreme Court orders in recent days that said mail-in ballots may not be counted if they lack accurate handwritten dates on the exterior envelopes.
The Department of State said it was unclear just how many ballots are at issue across the state. The agency over the weekend asked counties to provide the numbers, broken down by political party. Officials said some counties were not letting voters fix their mistakes.
Ahead of Tuesday's midterms, more than a million mail-in and absentee ballots have already been returned in Pennsylvania, with Democrats far more likely than Republicans to vote by mail. The numbers are large enough that they might matter in a close race, such as the contest between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz that could determine majority control of the U.S. Senate.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pennsylvanians-scurry-to-fix-mail-in-ballots-after-ruling/ar-AA13QeSB
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Each county Election Board can attempt to "cure" ballots that they receive where the voter forgot to sign the outside envelope, or dated it incorrectly or not at all. (Needless to say, the voter's party affiliation is irrelevant, this is for ALL ballots.)
The County election officers (or volunteers) can try to contact the voter by phone or mail and explain the problem. If that voter is able to come to the Election Central and sign and/or date the outside envelope, then their ballot comes out of quarantine and gets counted. If the voter cannot be contacted, or if they're unable to come to the election central office, their ballot stays in quarantine and doesn't get counted.
Not all counties are attempting to "cure" ballots, but I live in Allegheny County where this process has worked quite well. It has saved many hundreds of ballots from the quarantine junk pile since 2020.
