Elections officials concerned about uncertainty with mail-in ballots
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Molly Pellegrini, of North Strabane Township, hand delivers her ballot to Washington County Elections Office clerk Angela Haberthier Monday afternoon. Pellegrini prefers to vote in person on Election Day, but opted to cast her vote early due to travel plans.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
This election, the site of in-person voting changed in downtown Washington, where signs pointed early voters in the right direction.
The Washington County Elections Office was busy Monday as folks beat long poll lines by casting ballots ahead of Election Day. Some in-person voters expressed concern over undated mail-in ballots not being counted, while others said they weren't worried about those ballots' impact on this year's midterms.
As people head to the polls today for the midterm election, there is growing concern from county officials in the region over ever-changing court rulings and last-minute directives from the state involving mail-in and absentee ballots.
There has been confusion over the past week since the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that unsigned, undated and incorrectly dated mail-in ballots cannot be counted, but advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit Friday asking the undated envelopes to be counted because they argue they constitute “immaterial” errors and should not be discarded.
That litigation and a subsequent state Supreme Court ruling over the weekend clarifying a “date range” for ballots is just adding more anxiety to an already volatile election cycle.
“It’s a nightmare,” said Fayette County Commission Chairman Dave Lohr, who also serves on the county’s elections board. “I’ve been around when elections were easy. It makes it tough when these things keep cropping up.”
Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander said they have multiple bins where they’re segregating problematic ballots for future lawsuits, and while those have helped them organize and keep track as legal decisions are made, the whiplash rulings are causing headaches for the elections offices across the state.
“It’s very confusing and it’s more cumbersome now that we have to follow (one) ruling and then there are new rulings that have come out now,” Ostrander said. “So it’s very confusing for elections directors who are trying to run the elections and keep everything straight for Election Day with (in-person) voting. Now every day we come in and there is a new ruling.”
In addition, some counties are allowing voters to “cure” ballots with mistakes while others are not. There is no specific language in the state’s Election Code that spells it out, meaning individual counties can handle it however they see fit.
Fayette County contacted the 137 voters who submitted “defective” mail-in ballots, and about half of them have been corrected. But in Washington County, the elections board decided against that procedure, meaning the 64 undated and 10 unsigned ballots will not be counted. In Allegheny and Philadelphia counties – the two most populous areas in the state – elections officials posted voter information about who sent defective ballots, allowing them until 8 p.m. today to fix them.
Ostrander expects more lawsuits after the election as the losing candidates try to exclude or include ballots.
“No matter what we do, it will all depend on the outcome and what they’re going to do afterward,” Ostrander said. “They need to point a finger at somebody, and then they point it at us.”
Washington County Commission Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan, who sits on the county’s elections board, pointed her finger at the state Legislature and the vague language within the bipartisan Act 77 of 2019 that expanded mail-in voting. She and others want state legislators to make adjustments, but there have been disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on how to proceed, leaving the problems unresolved.
“Once again the fault for all of this confusion lies in the Legislature,” Irey Vaughan said. “The law is so vague, it doesn’t define what counties can and can’t do. It’s subject to interpretation and shouldn’t be. It needs to be fixed.”
Lohr agreed and is baffled why the numerous court rulings trying to interpret the law over the past year haven’t spurred state leaders to make changes to fix the problems.
“It needs taken care of. The Legislature needs to fix it. It comes back to them,” Lohr said. “I don’t know why it’s happened yet. It’s making our jobs harder here on the street.”
Greene County Commission Chairman Mike Belding, who serves on his county’s elections board, said they would follow whatever court rulings are active when they begin going through mail-in ballots this morning and separating the ones with issues.
“We’re fine. All the guidance will be there. It’s not unusual. We’ll keep up and execute,” he said. “Things are not definitive – well they never will be in this environment – but we have a process in place and we’ll be able to do whatever (the courts) want.”
The situation didn’t seem to be a major concern for voters in Washington County who were dropping off their mail-in ballots Monday afternoon at the elections office.
Kris Jangrow of Canonsburg had mixed feelings about the situation but seemed confident in the process.
“I’m always concerned about that (undated ballots),” he said. “I just want ballots to count that are done correctly. Maybe they should inform people more with how to do it. That’s part of the problem with mail-ins.”
A few minutes later, Nick O’Brien of Peters Township stopped by the office to apply for an emergency ballot ahead of last-minute travel plans with the National Guard. He wasn’t concerned there would be any issues with mail-in ballots in this election.
“I found out … that I had to go to Harrisburg for work,” he said. “It was too late to do a mail-in ballot. Next year, my wife and I, we’re definitely just going to do mail-in ballots. It’s just way easier, versus waiting in line.”
Elections directors are expecting higher than usual turnout today between the pleasant weather and hotly contested state and federal races.
“It’s hard to predict,” Fayette County Elections Director MaryBeth Kuznik said. “I know the interest is high, so it likely will be a big day.”
She urged people to be patient and remain in line if they’re still waiting to vote when the polls close at 8 p.m. The results of close elections may not be known for several days due to the larger number of mail-in ballots that must be counted, which can only begin at 7 a.m. today due to state law.
“Our poll workers are basically volunteers – they’re not full-time poll workers – so be patient and bear with them,” Kuznik said. “We’re all in this together for our country.”
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., while mail-in and absentee ballots must be delivered to a voter’s county elections office no later than 8 p.m.