Westmoreland elections board to rule on undated mail-in ballots

Westmoreland County election officials said Monday that a decision about whether to count 64 undated mail-in ballots could be made later this week.

Interim Election Bureau Director Greg McCloskey said vote counting was completed Friday with the review and tabulation of 278 provisional ballots submitted at the polls on Election Day.

Eight provision ballots were challenged by campaigns and will be ruled upon this week by a Common Pleas Court judge, McCloskey said.

The primary saw 87,200 ballots cast by mail and in person during the May 17 primary. Of those, more than 20,000 were cast by mail. Mail-in and absentee ballots cast by overseas and military voters are due on Tuesday and will be added to the final results, officials said.

McCloskey said just 388 mail-in ballots were rejected for various deficiencies, including the 64 that were undated.

Last week a federal judge ruled undated mail-in ballots cast during the 2021 General Election were to be counted. Westmoreland commissioners, sitting as the county’s election board, will determine at a special meeting later this week if undated mail-in ballots will be counted this spring.