Commonwealth Court Upholds Decision That Requires Counties to Inform Voters of Mail Ballot Errors
RNC, Pennsylvania GOP have not announced if they will appeal ruling to PA’s Supreme Court
September 24, 2024
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RNC, Pennsylvania GOP have not announced if they will appeal ruling to PA’s Supreme Court
Organizations ask court to allow them correct a procedural error
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Voters whose mail ballots were rejected over an error were entitled to have their provisional ballots counted, Commonwealth Court said.
Republicans said they would immediately appeal the ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Court says “Act 40 does not clearly, palpably, and plainly violate the Pennsylvania Constitution”
“Time for our leaders to work together to comply with the court’s ruling and fulfill their duty”
Court rejects GOP request to invalidate law, appeal expected
Court opts to wait until further General Assembly action is taken before considering
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit filed by numerous Republican organizations challenging the authority of the county boards of elections to develop and
A three-judge Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel upheld a Washington County court decision requiring the county to inform voters of errors with their mail ballots.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia-based Public Interest Law Center sued Washington County’s elections board July 1 on behalf of seven residents claiming they were disenfranchised because the elections board never notified them about mistakes on their mail-in ballots ahead of the April 23 primary election. There were 259 mail-in ballots that weren’t counted during the primary because they were misdated or do not include signatures or dates on the outer envelopes, which are required by state election laws.
Writing for the 2-1 majority, Judge Michael H. Wojcik said “the current Policy emasculates the Election Code’s guarantees by depriving voters … the opportunity to contest their disqualification or to avail themselves of the statutory failsafe of casting a provisional ballot.” Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer agreed with Wojcik, while Lori A. Dumas dissented.
The August ruling affirmed by today’s decision made clear that county election officials must enter proper data into a statewide database — known as the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) system — to ensure voters are notified about mail-in ballot mistakes and informed about the status of their ballots.
Additionally, the judge ordered the county to allow voters to cast a provisional ballot at the polls on Election Day if their mail-in ballots were segregated from the vote total due to a defect. These defects can include technical errors such as an incorrect date, a missing signature, or a missing secrecy envelope.
“Washington County election officials needlessly concealed information from voters, knowing that their ballots wouldn’t be counted,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “We’re grateful that the court saw the important constitutional principle that government agencies cannot withdraw or cancel fundamental rights, especially something as important as voting, without telling people beforehand and sided with the voters.”
““Voters in Washington County can be assured that, if they make a mistake with their mail ballot, they’ll be notified and have a chance to rescue their vote,” said Claudia De Palma, senior attorney at the Public Interest Law Center. “That’s a win for voters.”
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania state GOP have not yet indicated whether they plan to appeal today’s ruling to the state’s Supreme Court.
Just last week, the RNC filed a petition in the state Supreme Court seeking to ban cure procedures across the commonwealth and to prevent voters from casting provisional ballots at the polls if their mail-in ballots are rejected.
A three-judge Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel upheld a Washington County court decision requiring the county to inform voters of errors with their mail ballots.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia-based Public Interest Law Center sued Washington County’s elections board July 1 on behalf of seven residents claiming they were disenfranchised because the elections board never notified them about mistakes on their mail-in ballots ahead of the April 23 primary election. There were 259 mail-in ballots that weren’t counted during the primary because they were misdated or do not include signatures or dates on the outer envelopes, which are required by state election laws.
Writing for the 2-1 majority, Judge Michael H. Wojcik said “the current Policy emasculates the Election Code’s guarantees by depriving voters … the opportunity to contest their disqualification or to avail themselves of the statutory failsafe of casting a provisional ballot.” Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer agreed with Wojcik, while Lori A. Dumas dissented.
The August ruling affirmed by today’s decision made clear that county election officials must enter proper data into a statewide database — known as the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) system — to ensure voters are notified about mail-in ballot mistakes and informed about the status of their ballots.
Additionally, the judge ordered the county to allow voters to cast a provisional ballot at the polls on Election Day if their mail-in ballots were segregated from the vote total due to a defect. These defects can include technical errors such as an incorrect date, a missing signature, or a missing secrecy envelope.
“Washington County election officials needlessly concealed information from voters, knowing that their ballots wouldn’t be counted,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “We’re grateful that the court saw the important constitutional principle that government agencies cannot withdraw or cancel fundamental rights, especially something as important as voting, without telling people beforehand and sided with the voters.”
““Voters in Washington County can be assured that, if they make a mistake with their mail ballot, they’ll be notified and have a chance to rescue their vote,” said Claudia De Palma, senior attorney at the Public Interest Law Center. “That’s a win for voters.”
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania state GOP have not yet indicated whether they plan to appeal today’s ruling to the state’s Supreme Court.
Just last week, the RNC filed a petition in the state Supreme Court seeking to ban cure procedures across the commonwealth and to prevent voters from casting provisional ballots at the polls if their mail-in ballots are rejected.
A three-judge Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel upheld a Washington County court decision requiring the county to inform voters of errors with their mail ballots.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia-based Public Interest Law Center sued Washington County’s elections board July 1 on behalf of seven residents claiming they were disenfranchised because the elections board never notified them about mistakes on their mail-in ballots ahead of the April 23 primary election. There were 259 mail-in ballots that weren’t counted during the primary because they were misdated or do not include signatures or dates on the outer envelopes, which are required by state election laws.
Writing for the 2-1 majority, Judge Michael H. Wojcik said “the current Policy emasculates the Election Code’s guarantees by depriving voters … the opportunity to contest their disqualification or to avail themselves of the statutory failsafe of casting a provisional ballot.” Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer agreed with Wojcik, while Lori A. Dumas dissented.
The August ruling affirmed by today’s decision made clear that county election officials must enter proper data into a statewide database — known as the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) system — to ensure voters are notified about mail-in ballot mistakes and informed about the status of their ballots.
Additionally, the judge ordered the county to allow voters to cast a provisional ballot at the polls on Election Day if their mail-in ballots were segregated from the vote total due to a defect. These defects can include technical errors such as an incorrect date, a missing signature, or a missing secrecy envelope.
“Washington County election officials needlessly concealed information from voters, knowing that their ballots wouldn’t be counted,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “We’re grateful that the court saw the important constitutional principle that government agencies cannot withdraw or cancel fundamental rights, especially something as important as voting, without telling people beforehand and sided with the voters.”
““Voters in Washington County can be assured that, if they make a mistake with their mail ballot, they’ll be notified and have a chance to rescue their vote,” said Claudia De Palma, senior attorney at the Public Interest Law Center. “That’s a win for voters.”
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania state GOP have not yet indicated whether they plan to appeal today’s ruling to the state’s Supreme Court.
Just last week, the RNC filed a petition in the state Supreme Court seeking to ban cure procedures across the commonwealth and to prevent voters from casting provisional ballots at the polls if their mail-in ballots are rejected.
A three-judge Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel upheld a Washington County court decision requiring the county to inform voters of errors with their mail ballots.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia-based Public Interest Law Center sued Washington County’s elections board July 1 on behalf of seven residents claiming they were disenfranchised because the elections board never notified them about mistakes on their mail-in ballots ahead of the April 23 primary election. There were 259 mail-in ballots that weren’t counted during the primary because they were misdated or do not include signatures or dates on the outer envelopes, which are required by state election laws.
Writing for the 2-1 majority, Judge Michael H. Wojcik said “the current Policy emasculates the Election Code’s guarantees by depriving voters … the opportunity to contest their disqualification or to avail themselves of the statutory failsafe of casting a provisional ballot.” Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer agreed with Wojcik, while Lori A. Dumas dissented.
The August ruling affirmed by today’s decision made clear that county election officials must enter proper data into a statewide database — known as the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) system — to ensure voters are notified about mail-in ballot mistakes and informed about the status of their ballots.
Additionally, the judge ordered the county to allow voters to cast a provisional ballot at the polls on Election Day if their mail-in ballots were segregated from the vote total due to a defect. These defects can include technical errors such as an incorrect date, a missing signature, or a missing secrecy envelope.
“Washington County election officials needlessly concealed information from voters, knowing that their ballots wouldn’t be counted,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “We’re grateful that the court saw the important constitutional principle that government agencies cannot withdraw or cancel fundamental rights, especially something as important as voting, without telling people beforehand and sided with the voters.”
““Voters in Washington County can be assured that, if they make a mistake with their mail ballot, they’ll be notified and have a chance to rescue their vote,” said Claudia De Palma, senior attorney at the Public Interest Law Center. “That’s a win for voters.”
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania state GOP have not yet indicated whether they plan to appeal today’s ruling to the state’s Supreme Court.
Just last week, the RNC filed a petition in the state Supreme Court seeking to ban cure procedures across the commonwealth and to prevent voters from casting provisional ballots at the polls if their mail-in ballots are rejected.
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