Westmoreland commissioners decline to consider ballot curing for November election

The Westmoreland County commissioners Thursday again rejected calls to allow mail-in voters an opportunity to fix errors that could lead to the disqualification of their ballots in November.

During the public comment period of the commissioners’ meeting at the courthouse, a handful of voters — most of them registered Democrats — requested a formal ballot curing process be enacted for the general election.

Ballot curing is a process where county elections officials notify voters who submit mail-in ballots of errors, allowing them an opportunity to correct disqualifying flaws.

According to a study released last fall by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Westmoreland is the only county in Southwestern Pennsylvania that does not allow ballot curing.

Eddy Confer of Latrobe urged Republican Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew to reconsider their previous position. This follows their decision this week to allow voters to cast paper ballots at the polls, a move they said was made to align Westmoreland County with neighboring counties.

Since no-excuse mail-in ballots were authorized in 2020, Kertes and Chew have rejected calls to enact ballot curing in Westmoreland County.

“Should we not get in line with what is available to voters in other counties regarding ballot curing?” Confer asked.

Zakery Wiles of Hempfield said ballot curing would help ensure elderly and disabled voters who rely on mail-in ballots have additional assurances that their votes will be counted.

“It’s a simple safeguard; it’s not complicated,” Wiles said. “It’s basic fairness: a phone call, a postcard or an email. Just one chance to fix the error so a vote can still be counted. Without that chance, you’re telling hundreds of our neighbors that their participation does not matter.”

No proposal to allow ballot curing appeared on Thursday’s agenda, and it is unlikely to be considered by the commissioners in their roles as members of the county’s election board, Kertes said.

“We have mail-in ballots, and we’re not trying to disenfranchise anyone,” Kertes stated. “At this time, I just think there has to be responsibility on the voters to fill out their ballots properly.”

Chew said he was unaware of the ACLU study on ballot curing and declined to comment further on the issue.

Commissioner Ted Kopas, the board’s lone Democrat, said he supports ballot curing.

“It’s a really simple, commonsense thing to do, and any explanation otherwise, frankly, sounds like nonsense at this point,” Kopas said.

This week, Kopas voted against the plan to allow paper ballots at the polls, citing the added expense amid the county’s financial struggles during the ongoing state budget impasse.