Elections board approves new mail-in ballot policy for Washington Co.
Mike Jones
Following the directive in a recent court order – and after spending more than $75,000 in legal bills – Washington County’s elections board agreed to a policy that will notify voters of disqualifying issues with their mail-in and give them the chance to cast a provisional ballot.
The elections board, which consists of three county commissioners, convened a special meeting Wednesday to lay out the policy regarding mail-in ballots that closely follows Court of Common Pleas Judge Brandon Neuman’s ruling on the subject last month.
“At present, we are operating under the order of Judge Brandon Neuman,” county solicitor Gary Sweat told the elections board.
The policy, which was unanimously approved by Commissioners Nick Sherman, Electra Janis and Larry Maggi, means voters who fail to sign or date the outer envelopes of their mail-in ballots will receive an email or phone call informing them of the problem. Voters who listed their email on their mail-in ballot application will receive an electronic message from the state’s elections database that their vote has been “canceled” – along with the exact reason – and be given instructions on how to cast a provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day. Voters who did not list an email will receive one phone call from the elections office about the issue, which will then be notated for record keeping.
Voters whose mail-in ballots have no issues will receive an email that lists their vote as “record-ballot returned,” meaning it will be counted during canvassing on Election Day.
Wednesday’s special meeting lasted less than 10 minutes, but it gives direction to the elections office on how to handle mail-in ballots that lack a signature, date or are misdated. The ACLU of Pennsylvania and Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia sued the county’s elections board in July on behalf of seven voters who claimed they were disenfranchised because they were never notified of fatal flaws with their mail-in ballots, which weren’t counted in the April 23 primary. A total of 259 mail-in ballots had such disqualifying issues in the primary.
Neuman ordered the county on Aug. 23 to notify voters of problems through the state’s election database and allow them to vote with a provisional ballot. The county – along with the Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania GOP – appealed that order, but the state Commonwealth Court affirmed it by a 2-1 decision on Sept. 24. The RNC and state GOP have since appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court.
With the lawsuit still not fully resolved, there could be additional changes in the future to the county’s mail-in ballot policy. There are also several other lawsuits before the state Supreme Court that could have statewide impacts on how counties handle ballot curing.
“We also need to be aware there are multiple challenges to the process of curing ballots,” Sweat told the elections board. “Various counties need solid directives on how mail-in ballots must be handled because (policies) are inconsistent with each other.”
Maggi, a Democrat who supported offering voters some form of ballot curing but was overruled in April by the two Republicans on the elections board when Sherman and Janis voted not to allow it, applauded the decision to follow Neuman’s order. He said that while the policy is not ballot-curing, per se, it at least lets people know there is an issue with their mail-in vote and gives them an option to take corrective action using a provisional ballot.
“This is not an optimal situation, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Maggi said in a written statement. “Hopefully a future court decision will allow the people to correct their ballot before election day. But this is not the case today.”
Maggi also noted that the decision to not allow ballot curing in the primary led to “months of litigation,” which cost the county $75,185 in legal fees to pay Pittsburgh-based attorney David Berardinelli to serve as special counsel fighting the lawsuit on behalf of the elections board.
“This decision makes sure that everyone’s vote counts and it helps us keep democracy alive and well,” Maggi said about the policy. “Voting is a sacred right, and it should not be taken away from anyone because of a minor error.”
Washington County’s new policy comes just as the elections office is preparing to send out the first wave of mail-in ballots to voters. Elections Director Melanie Ostrander announced at the meeting that there have been about 23,000 requests for mail-in ballots so far, and they will begin going out on Monday.