Editorial: Westmoreland commissioners half-right on following mail-in ballot rules

Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew has a point: There are rules for a reason.

On Friday, the county’s Elections Board rejected 343 mail-in ballots that were improperly dated on the mailing envelope. Democratic Commissioner Gina Cerilli voted to count them. Chew and his Republican counterpart Sean Kertes declined to vote on the issue, allowing the ballots to be tossed out.

It is unsurprising that, as with everything related to the 2020 election, the decision was not unanimous and comes down to party lines. Because of course it does. And the ballots in Westmoreland are a perfect example of why everything shouldn’t.

“At what point does an individual have to be responsible?” Chew asked.

It’s a good question. And it’s why those 343 votes should not have been counted.

There are rules to an election. Lots of them. From when people sign up to run to how they collect signatures to end up on the ballot to how candidates raise money and how they spend it. Those are the rules that tend to get lots of attention.

Voting is a right, but it’s also a responsibility. Like driving. When you are behind the wheel, you have to follow the rules. Don’t speed and stay in your lane. With voting, there are rules too. Register on time. Vote on time. And if voting by mail, bust out a black pen, follow the instructions, mail it on time, and fill out the required information on the back of the official mailing envelope (signature, printed name, date and address). That’s the voter’s job.

So Chew is right to expect those 343 voters to live up to those requirements.

But there were another 375 ballots that might be different. They were the ballots that the Postal Service didn’t get to the courthouse on time. They were late by nine minutes.

The board declined to count those ballots too. And that is different. The voters did their job, but circumstances beyond their control intervened. The 375 votes tossed were like a bad NFL call that seems to come down to which team you support or the camera angle for the instant replay.

The problem with the board decision is that it renders moot the voice of those people who participated when not enough people do.

The decision is worth the debate — not because it will change anything. Westmoreland was decisively a Trump county, but there aren’t enough votes in the pile to tip the scales toward one candidate or the other.

It shouldn’t be about party and it shouldn’t be about the winner. It should be about listening to the people who played by the rules.