Westmoreland voters not allowed to fix undated mail-in ballots

Westmoreland County election officials said voters who submit undated mail-in ballots will not be permitted to correct that error or other deficiencies before Election Day.

That could result in their votes not being counted.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday barred county election offices from counting undated mail-in ballots and ordered them to be segregated and not included in the official tally. In a separate ruling earlier this month, the Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that allows counties to help voters “cure,” or correct, potentially deficient mail-in ballots.

“We don’t have a curing process,” Westmoreland County Election Bureau Director Greg McCloskey said. “We have no curing policy.”

McCloskey said county commissioners, who serve as the election board, ultimately have the power to determine whether election officials can investigate and help voters correct errors, but never formally voted to create any policy to do so.

On Election Day, workers will process mail-in votes and set aside, and not count, any that are potentially invalid, including those with no dates or incorrect dates, and lacking signatures or the inner secrecy envelope.

The elections board is not scheduled to meet before the Nov. 8 election.

“We are just following our precedent, and it’s what we have always done,” said Republican Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes. “We just really believe the voters should be aware (of voting rules).”

Commissioner Doug Chew, a Republican, said he was in favor of the state Supreme Court decision and the county’s policy on mail-in ballots.

“The recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court order is a step in the right direction to restore integrity back into our elections. Current Pennsylvania election statutes provide no way to cure a ballot, and without explicit approval by the General Assembly … there is no legal recourse to cure,” Chew said. “I support the Westmoreland County Election Board decisions. … We have not permitted curing, nor have we certified undated or wrongly-dated ballots.”

Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher, a Democrat, did not respond to a request for comment.

The deadline for voters to apply for mail-in ballots expired this week. The county mailed 38,345 ballots to voters, and as of Wednesday morning, 29,000 were returned to the election bureau. Democratic voters accounted for more than 66% of mail-in ballot requests.

McCloskey said the county has not determined how many returned ballots contain erroneous dates or lack dates. The county received 64 undated mail-in ballots in the spring primary.

Mail-in ballots with no dates or with hand-written dates that fall outside of the Sept. 30 to Nov. 8 range will not be counted, McCloskey said.

In Allegheny County, more than 133,000 mail-in ballots were returned as of Nov. 1.

Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs said election officials have been segregating undated mail-in ballots and will continue to do so after the Supreme Court ruling.

“Prior to the issuance of this order, the county voluntarily was segregating undated ballots and notifying voters who did not date their ballots of the opportunity to cure,” Downs wrote in an email.

Mail-in ballots can be returned to county election departments until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.

The Westmoreland County Elections Bureau will operate with extended hours, until 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend to accept mail-in ballots at the courthouse.

No drop boxes are being used in Westmoreland County, and the number of voters who have returned mail-in ballots in person at the courthouse has been outpaced by voters who initially applied for ballots and voted at the same time, an option no longer available leading up to next week’s election, McCloskey said.

Voters who receive mail-in ballots in the coming days are urged to return them in person to the courthouse.

“People should consider coming into the election bureau at this time in the game rather than going through the U.S. mail to ensure it arrives on time,” McCloskey said.