Pennsylvania Judge Rules Butler County Voters Cannot Cure ‘Naked’ Mail-in Ballots | Rachel Selzer/Democracy Docket

As a result of a ruling issued last Friday by a Pennsylvania judge, Butler County voters will not be able to cure defective mail-in ballots that are missing inner secrecy envelopes — also known as “naked ballots.” The ruling, which is expected to be appealed, upholds a prior decision from the Butler County Board of Elections refusing to allow two voters to cure their “naked” mail-in ballots cast in the state’s 2024 primary election. “It is the voter’s burden to ensure they have completed the steps necessary for their mail-in ballot to be included in the tabulation,” last week’s order reads. The judge added that it is the task of the Pennsylvania Legislature, not the court, to implement a new set of curing procedures to remedy defective mail-in ballots. Read Article

Five of Pennsylvania’s ‘fake electors’ from 2020 are back on Trump’s 2024 slate | Carter Walker/Votebeat

Five Pennsylvania Republicans who joined an alternate slate of electors for Donald Trump in 2020 will again serve as presidential electors in this year’s contest. William “Bill” Bachenberg, Bernadette Comfort, Ash Khare, Patricia Poprik, and Andrew Reilly are included on a list of electors submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of State by the GOP. Those electors, along with 15 others, drew criticism after submitting their names as electors for Pennsylvania in December 2020 and casting votes for then-President Trump, even though Joe Biden won the state’s popular vote. But unlike similar groups of alternate or “fake” electors in other swing states in 2020, the Pennsylvania slate avoided legal repercussions because of a caveat they included in the certificate documenting their vote. Read Article

Pennsylvania’s Department of State guidance was a 2020 lightning rod. This is how it works. | Carter Walker/Spotlight PA

When legislative Republicans urged Congress to reject Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for Joe Biden in 2020, they didn’t cite voter fraud or illegal activity. Instead, they pointed to something seemingly innocuous: guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of State. State Republicans including then-state House Speaker Bryan Cutler accused the agency of undermining Pennsylvania’s new mail voting law. Jake Corman, then the state Senate’s majority leader, called on former Secretary Kathy Boockvar to step down, saying, “To have this sort of stuff going on at the 11th hour is unconscionable.” Corman was referencing guidance issued by Boockvar the day before the November 2020 election that advised counties to notify voters of fatal defects with their mail ballots and have them vote provisionally at a polling place. Some counties followed the guidance, and some didn’t. Read Article

Pennsylvania’s long-running dispute over dates on mail-in voting ballots is back in the courts | Mark Scolforo/Associated Press

A technical requirement that Pennsylvania voters write accurate dates on the exterior envelope of mail-in ballots was again the subject of a court proceeding on Thursday as advocates argued the mandate unfairly leads to otherwise valid votes being thrown out. A five-judge Commonwealth Court panel heard about two hours of argument in a case that was filed in May, even though the date requirement has been upheld both by the state Supreme Court and the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case was brought by the Black Political Empowerment Project, Common Cause and allied advocacy groups against the secretary of state and the elections boards in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh. They argued that enforcing the date requirement infringes upon voting rights and that none of the prior cases on the topic directly ruled whether it runs afoul of the state constitution’s Free and Equal Elections Clause. Read Article

Pennsylvania presidential election results could again take days to count | Colby Itkowitz and Derek Hawkins/The Washington Post

mail-in ballots, his lead shrunk and then disappeared. By Saturday, Joe Biden was the clear winner of Pennsylvania — and with it, the presidency. The protracted counting process left a days-long vacuum that Trump filled with demands to stop counting the ballots while he was still ahead, declaring victory in Pennsylvania and building the false narrative that the mail-in votes were fraudulent. It became a core part of the false narrative that helped propel Trump’s “Stop the Steal” crusade and spurred election denialism among his allies and supporters that has continued to this day. The delay was caused by a quirk of Pennsylvania’s election law, which forbids the opening of mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on the day of the election. Read Article

Pennsylvania directs counties to print full year on mail ballot envelopes | Carter Walker/Votebeat

The Pennsylvania Department of State is hoping another change to mail ballot return envelopes will eliminate the chance of ballots being rejected this November because of voters failing to write in the year completely. In a directive earlier this month, the Department of State told counties that they should now preprint ballot return envelopes with the full, four-digit year in the date field, leaving voters to fill in just the month and day alongside their signature. “We conducted an analysis after this election of why ballots were rejected,” said Al Schmidt, secretary of the commonwealth. “We didn’t see a significant number of ballots missing the full year, but there were some, and every vote is precious in every election.” It’s the second modification to the envelopes since the 2023 municipal elections, as state officials try to cut down on the number of ballots rejected for lacking a properly filled out date and resolve differing interpretations among counties on whether to count these ballots. The move will also eliminate a risk of lawsuits in November over whether incomplete-year ballots should be accepted or rejected. Read Article

Pennsylvania House passes bill to avoid election certification logjam | Carter Walker/Votebeat

In a bipartisan effort to avert a potential crisis in certifying November’s election results, the Pennsylvania House passed a bill Tuesday that would cement the timelines for resolving post-election legal battles and prevent delays in finalizing the state’s electoral votes. A federal law passed in 2022, the Electoral Count Reform Act, set a strict deadline for states to certify slates of presidential electors: Dec. 11. But Pennsylvania doesn’t have its own set of deadlines to meet that target, which could set the state up for a potential conflict with the federal law. “This gap poses a significant risk of missing the federally mandated deadlines for certifying presidential election results,” said Rep. Benjamin Sanchez (D-Montgomery), the bill’s prime sponsor. “Our goal with HB 2473 is to mitigate this risk and guarantee Pennsylvania’s voice is heard and respected when Congress counts the state’s electors.” Read Article

Pennsylvania: Right-wing group sues over errors in voter registration records | Angela Couloumbis and Carter Walker/Spotlight PA

A far-right group is asking a judge to order Pennsylvania to clean up its voter roll, citing flaws it claims to have found in voter registration data as evidence that the state is violating federal law. The group’s claims, however, appear to contradict facts about how the state’s voting systems work, reflecting what one election expert suggested is a “gross misunderstanding of election law.” Much of the information in the suit comes from groups with histories of making false claims about the state’s voter rolls, and the suit includes at least one easily disproved claim. The lawsuit is part of a broader strategy that the lead plaintiff, United Sovereign Americans, has acknowledged: to challenge voter rolls across the country, in separate federal court jurisdictions, to force the issue up to the U.S. Supreme Court in time to affect the 2024 general election. The group filed a similar suit in Maryland that was dismissed in May because the plaintiffs didn’t have legal grounds to sue. Read Article

Pennsylvania: Partisan gridlock prevents fixes to voting laws as presidential election looms | Marc Levy/Associated Press

Pennsylvania is seeing lots of action targeting gaps in its vote-by-mail laws. The problem is that it’s in the courtroom and not the legislature. That could make the most populous presidential swing state a hotbed of challenges and conspiracy theories if the November election is close, as expected. The state also has a U.S. Senate contest between Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick that will help determine control of the chamber, increasing scrutiny on election offices if lawmakers can’t break a partisan stalemate and vote-counting is slowed by mailed ballots. “Everyone just really feels how high the stakes are in Pennsylvania, being the largest swing state in the country,” said Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based good-government group. Read Article

Pennsylvania: What you need to know about election recounts in Pennsylvania | Carter Walker/Votebeat

In 2020, former President Donald Trump’s campaign paid $3 million so Wisconsin would recount votes in two counties. The result: Joe Biden’s lead grew by 87 votes. Such a recount would not be possible in Pennsylvania. Here, a recount is automatically ordered if a statewide race falls within a certain margin. Voters can also initiate recounts in their own precincts. With another highly contentious rematch between the two on the table for this November, an automatic recount cannot be ruled out. In recent years, supporters of losing candidates have also initiated precinct-level recounts that have little chance of changing a race’s outcome but can be used to disrupt the election process. Read Article

Pennsylvania voting rights groups are suing to allow undated ballots to be counted. They hope to win before November’s election. | Katie Bernard/Philadelphia Inquirer

Pennsylvania voting rights groups are once again seeking to overturn a state law that bars undated or incorrectly dated mail ballots from being counted. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and Public Interest Law Center filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on behalf of eight voting rights and civil rights organizations. The suit, which was filed against Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt and election officials in Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties, argues that the disqualification of undated ballots violates the Pennsylvania Constitution, which guarantees a right to vote in free and equal elections. Read Article

Pennsylvania election directors like new mail ballot materials, even as some voters filled them out improperly | Ford Turner/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Scores of April primary election mail ballots were rejected in some areas of Pennsylvania because voters failed to put the last two digits of the year on newly redesigned ballot materials – but that didn’t stop officials from giving the redesign a thumbs-up. The redesign, announced by the administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro late last year, was intended to decrease voter confusion associated with mail ballots, which debuted on a broad scale in 2020. Among other things, the redesign involved easily identifiable secrecy envelopes, standardized full-page instructions with graphics, and a pre-filled “20” at the beginning of the ‘year’ space on the outside or “declaration” envelope. Secretary of State Al Schmidt earlier this month said counties reported a 13.5% decrease from 2023 in mail ballots rejected for the reasons that the state had tried to address. Read Article

Pennsylvania counties finish second audit of primary results before state certification | Jordan Wilkie/WITF

Pennsylvania’s primary results are still unofficial. To be approved, counties go through several processes to make sure everything worked well. A big step is auditing votes to make sure they were counted correctly on primary night. Counties finished the process today, the last major hurdle before Monday’s certification deadline. Results go through two checks. The first is a 2% audit. The second is a newer method called a risk-limiting audit. Commonly called an RLA, it is considered the gold standard tabulation audit recommended by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Mark Lindeman, policy director with the election technology and security nonprofit Verified Voting, helped the state design its RLA system. … “The math is complicated, but the idea is simple,” Lindeman said. “If you check vote counts from all over the state and they all can come back fine, you have pretty strong assurance that the vote counts are good.” Read Article

Pennsylvania: ACLU lawsuit targets mail ballot ‘notice and cure’ policy | Carter Walker/Votebeat

The ACLU of Pennsylvania is suing one county, and may file more cases, in an effort to challenge a policy that it says disenfranchises voters who make an error when casting ballots by mail. The case against Butler County, filed after the April primary, appears to be the start of a broader statewide effort by the group targeting the “notice and cure” process, a major gray area in state law that leads to uneven rules for voters across Pennsylvania. Along with that lawsuit, the organization has signaled it is considering another lawsuit, and has been filing public records requests to identify more counties that don’t allow voters to correct flawed mail ballots or provide notice to voters that their ballot will be rejected. Such records requests are often a precursor to a lawsuit. Read Article

Pennsylvania sees fewer mail ballots rejected for technicalities, a priority for election officials | Marc Levy/Associated Press

Pennsylvania election officials said Wednesday that the rate of mail-in ballots rejected for technicalities, like a missing date, saw a significant drop in last month’s primary election after state officials tried anew to help voters avoid mistakes that might get their ballots thrown out. Secretary of State Al Schmidt, said counties reported a 13.5% decrease in mail-in ballots that were rejected for reasons the state had tried to address with a redesigned ballot envelope and instructions for voting by mail. That drop was calculated in comparison to the 2023 primary election. Read Articles

Pennsylvania state House advances bill to give counties more time to count mail ballots | Carter Walker/Spotlight PA

Pennsylvania House Democrats are again pushing to allow counties time to process mail ballots before the day of the election. But the effort appears doomed because of the Senate GOP majority’s insistence on pairing the measure with an expanded voter ID law. A House bill passed Wednesday in a party line vote would allow counties up to seven days before election day to open ballot envelopes and run ballots through scanning machines, though results would still be tabulated on the day of the election. Currently, counties cannot begin processing mail ballots until the morning of the election, which means counties with large numbers of mail ballots may need additional days to finish counting and report complete results. Read Article

Pennsylvania: Democrats advance election bill long sought by counties to process ballots faster | Marc Levy/Associated Press

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill long sought by counties seeking help to manage huge influxes of mail-in ballots during elections in the presidential battleground state and to avoid a repeat of 2020’s drawn-out vote count. The bill comes barely six months before Pennsylvania could play a decisive role in selecting the next president in November’s election. The bill passed on party lines, 102-99, as Democrats backed it and Republicans opposed it, warning that it would open the door to fraud. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, supports the bill, and on Wednesday issued a statement urging the Senate to pass it but it faces long odds in the Republican-controlled chamber. Read Article

Pennsylvania’s redesigned mail ballot envelopes trip up many voters who left date incomplete | Carter Walker/Votebeat

A design change to Pennsylvania’s mail ballot return envelope aimed at reducing errors has led to rejected ballots in the primary, as voters fail to fill in the last two digits of the year despite the state’s new advice to count them. While the Department of State advised counties to accept these ballots, some reject them, citing discrepancies with existing court orders and concerns over the validity of the advice. Read Article

Pennsylvania: Missing voting machine documents raise concern about Northampton County’s testing processes | Carter Walker/Votebeat

bDuring a November election in Northampton County, voters encountered a concerning issue: votes intended for one judge appeared under another’s name on printed records, highlighting a programming error in the voting machines. Although this error didn’t affect the vote tabulation, it underscored the importance of rigorous pre-election testing. However, an investigation revealed that Northampton County’s testing documentation was incomplete, inconsistent, and sometimes missing altogether, making it challenging to verify proper testing. While the errors didn’t indicate machine malfunction or malfeasance, they risked undermining voter confidence and fueling conspiracy theories. In response, Read Article

Pennsylvania: What could trigger costly, time-consuming election recounts? 3 signatures and $50. | Bruce Siwy/Erie Times-News

Some organizations, like Better PA, advocate for changes to Pennsylvania’s recount system, citing concerns about potential post-election chaos and bad-faith efforts. John Jones III and others argue for more stringent rules to initiate recounts, emphasizing the need to avoid disruptions in the electoral certification process. While the current law allows for recounts under certain conditions, including a narrow margin between candidates, critics argue that the system lacks clarity and could lead to delays in certification. Better PA proposes several changes, such as increasing filing fees and requiring detailed allegations of fraud or error in the election. Despite these calls for reform, there’s currently no legislative action on the matter in Harrisburg, and the outlook for changes before the November general election appears unlikely. Read Article

New U.S. deadline for certifying election results adds to pressure on Pennsylvania officials | Carter Walker/Votebeat

After the 2022 elections, a flurry of precinct-level recount petitions prevented Pennsylvania from certifying its election results until Dec. 22 — weeks later than usual. This year presents an even more difficult scenario: a new federal law that says states must certify their slate of presidential electoral votes by Dec. 11. That’s about five weeks after Election Day. Election officials and policy advocates are concerned that another influx of recount petitions after a much busier election could make it harder for Pennsylvania and its counties to meet the tighter timeline. If the state can’t comply, they worry, the courts may have to get involved and force certification, providing fodder to those looking to challenge the state’s results in a year when the margin of victory is expected to be much closer than in most midterm races. Read Article

Pennsylvania can require voters to put a date on mail ballots, U.S. appeals court rules | Carter Walker/Votebeat

A federal appeals court decision upholding Pennsylvania’s rules for voting by mail could mean that tens of thousands of ballots are rejected in this year’s election because they lack a date or are misdated. But the full impact of the ruling is still up in the air while the parties who brought the case decide whether to appeal. A panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Wednesday that a Pennsylvania law requiring mail voters to handwrite a date on the return envelope did not violate a provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that’s meant to protect voters from being denied the right to register to vote. The decision could have broad implications: If plaintiffs appeal to the Supreme Court and justices uphold it, it could become precedent for the entire country, rather than just the jurisdictions in the 3rd Circuit. Such a ruling could limit how the Civil Rights Act applies to requirements for casting a ballot. Read Article

Pennsylvania: Overworked, underpaid, under attack: on the frontlines in a US election office | Sam Levine/The Guardian

Emily Cook, the deputy director in the Luzerne County election office, found herself thrust into a chaotic situation on election day in November 2022 when reports of paper shortages at polling locations flooded in. As tensions escalated, she faced harassment and threats, reflecting a broader trend of election officials leaving their positions due to similar pressures nationwide since 2020. Cook, who has witnessed high turnover in her office, now finds herself as the acting election director, grappling with the challenge of stabilizing the bureau amidst political uncertainty and public distrust. Despite the daunting task ahead, Cook remains committed to restoring confidence in the county’s electoral processes, recognizing the importance of transparency and perseverance in the face of adversity. Read Article

Pennsylvania: Cybersecurity experts urge return to hand-marked paper ballots | Peter Hall/Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Hand marked paper ballots that are electronically scanned and stored for future review are the basis of a resilient and trustworthy election system, cybersecurity and election integrity experts told Pennsylvania Senate lawmakers on Monday. They urged members of the Senate State Government Committee to move Pennsylvania away from the use of electronic ballot marking devices, such as the touchscreen voting machines used by the state’s most populous county, Philadelphia, and in Northampton County, where errors involving the machines have twice raised questions about their accuracy. “Election security requires considering a wide range of threats to elections, from simple rainstorms to sophisticated adversaries,” said Kevin Skoglund, president and chief technologist for Citizens for Better Elections, a non-partisan group based in Pennsylvania. “With so many types of threats it may be surprising to learn that the majority of the security risks can be mitigated through two measures: resilience planning, and evidence based elections.” Read Article

Pennsylvania: Replacing some voting machines gains bi-partisan support in State Senate | Jordan Wilkie/WITF

Election technology experts testified before the Pennsylvania Senate’s State Government Committee, highlighting vulnerabilities in voting machines used across 20 counties, representing 30% of the state’s voters, particularly critiquing the ballot-marking devices. The experts recommended phasing out the use of ballot marking devices for all voters and transitioning to hand-marked paper ballots, aligning with best practices for election security. Read Article

Pennsylvania: There’s new leadership in Fulton County. They still chase Trump’s 2020 grievances. | Bruce Siwy and Amber South/Chambersburg Public Opinion

Despite facing repeated court rejections, Fulton County commissioners persist in their challenge to the 2020 election, much to the chagrin of taxpayers who are now liable for legal fees potentially exceeding $1 million. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling of contempt in April penalized the county for permitting multiple third-party inspections of Dominion Voting Systems machines, resulting in hefty legal costs. While newly elected commissioners initially resisted continuing the legal battle, they eventually voted to appeal, prompting concerns about the financial burden on taxpayers. Despite judicial dismissals citing the minimal impact of alleged errors in voting machines, commissioners, backed by pro bono counsel connected to former President Trump’s election challenges, remain determined, even as their attorney faces felony charges in Michigan related to improper acquisition of voting equipment. Read Article

Pennsylvania: What to know about electronic pollbooks, which counties use them, and more | Katie Meyer/Spotlight PA

Pennsylvania is gradually introducing electronic pollbooks (e-pollbooks) in more counties ahead of the 2024 presidential election, aiming to streamline the voting process and enhance efficiency for poll workers. While e-pollbooks simplify voter sign-in and reconciliation processes, concerns about cybersecurity persist. Lancaster County piloted e-pollbooks last year, receiving positive feedback from poll workers, but some officials remain cautious, citing cybersecurity apprehensions. The adoption of e-pollbooks varies across counties due to cost considerations, with Philadelphia embracing them for their efficiency benefits, while others lag due to financial constraints. Despite security measures in place, challenges such as technical glitches and the need for comprehensive training persist, underscoring the importance of robust implementation strategies to ensure smooth election operations. Read Article

Pennsylvania court rules electronic voting data is not subject to release under public records law | Mark Scolforo/Associated Press

A Pennsylvania court ruled 5-2 against granting public access to spreadsheets containing raw data associated with every ballot cast in the 2020 General Election in Lycoming County. The case began with a request by election researcher Heather Honey, whose work has been linked to right-wing attacks on voting procedures. The court concluded that the cast vote records, considered the modern equivalent of traditional ballot boxes, are not subject to public scrutiny under the state’s Right-to-Know Law. The majority opinion emphasized that optical scanners used in the election qualify as voting machines, thus falling under the law’s protection of voting machine contents. Despite arguments that releasing the data wouldn’t compromise ballot secrecy, the court upheld the decision, prompting consideration of an appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Read Article

Pennsylvania was deluged by election lawsuits in 2020. Experts say 2024 will be even more intense. | by Angela Couloumbis/Spotlight PA

Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania initiated a federal lawsuit to challenge executive actions expanding voter registration, arguing that such measures encroached upon the legislature’s constitutional authority regarding election procedures. This lawsuit signifies the start of what is anticipated to be a year marked by significant legal battles over various aspects of Pennsylvania’s electoral processes, particularly with the impending rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Potential litigation topics include the legality of drop boxes and the validity of mail ballots, with one case concerning undated or misdated mail ballots potentially reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. Read Article

Pennsylvania’s voting machines: Everything you need to know, how the state keeps them safe, and more | Carter Walker/Spotlight PA

In Pennsylvania, amidst an anticipated contentious presidential election, there’s been a history of politicians spreading false information regarding voting machines’ security and accuracy, despite stringent testing protocols in place. Despite these challenges, efforts to enhance transparency and reporting on machine issues aim to bolster public trust in the electoral process. Read Article