Mail-in ballots continue to stir controversy in Pennsylvania.
Now, with less than two months before the November general election, there’s a new effort to question the validity of some mail-in ballots.
The new challenge to mail-in voting comes through a court suit filed by multiple Republican organizations earlier this month in Pennsylvania’s commonwealth court.
At the heart of the dispute, what’s termed “curing” procedures for mail-in ballots.
“Curing is allowing voters to make changes or corrections to their mail-in ballots once it’s been received in our office. But there’s no definite rules on curing.”
The court filing, which includes a request for a preliminary injunction, cites that note specifically that there is no uniform rule on how to cure mail-in ballots, not on the state or federal level.
Those filing suit challenge the authority of county election offices to make decisions on notifying voters about technical errors with their mail-in ballots.
The lack of some information can mean the ballot is not counted.
“It depends on the deficit on the ballot. If a signature is missing, it cannot be counted. The lawsuit last year, with the date missing, allowed for those ballots to be counted. So, it depends on what’s missing on the ballot.”
Centre Country administrators, on Tuesday, joined other counties in a singular legal response to the proposal for a preliminary injunction.
Many counties arguing, similar to the Pennsylvania Department of State, that granting an injunction now could throw out mail-in ballots for the upcoming November election, before the case could be fully argued in court.
