(Harrisburg, Pa.) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania today released a county-by-county analysis of which county elections offices notify voters of errors and permit them to correct those errors before polls close on Election Day, a process called “notice and cure.”
The majority of counties in Pennsylvania, including counties that lean both Democratic and Republican, allow “curing” for mail ballots when the voter has made a mistake when completing the packet. At least 36 counties give voters the opportunity to cure mail ballots with disqualifying errors, such as a mistake on the declaration envelope or a missing secrecy envelope.
An additional ten counties do not have in-office curing but do enter accurate ballot statuses into the Pennsylvania Department of State’s SURE system. Those voters are then notified about their option to vote a provisional ballot at their precinct on Election Day in order to preserve their right to vote.
At least 16 counties don't give voters any notice or opportunity to cure their mail ballots, and the policies of the remaining five counties are unknown at this time.
“Eligible voters have the right to cast a ballot, in person or by mail, and have their ballot counted and certified,” said ACLU-PA Executive Director Mike Lee. “In the five years since Pennsylvanians’ voting rights expanded to include no-excuse voting by mail, we’ve seen counties try to skirt the expansion in voting access by applying needless rules and harsh punishments for meaningless errors. These policies have real impact on real voters, and we know that thousands have been disenfranchised because of them.
“While the ACLU tackles the legal battles to make voting as easy as possible, voters need to know what they can expect from their county if they vote by mail.”
The data, presented on the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s website in an interactive map, shows voters what they can expect in the event they make correctable errors on their mail ballots this year.
ACLU-PA will update the map as policies change or more information is shared.
