Current:Home > Contact-usLawsuit says Pennsylvania county deliberately hid decisions to invalidate some mail-in ballots-LoTradeCoin
Lawsuit says Pennsylvania county deliberately hid decisions to invalidate some mail-in ballots
View Date:2024-12-24 08:42:52
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania county’s elected commissioners were sued Monday over a policy adopted for this year’s primary in which people whose mail-in ballots were disqualified for technical violations say they were purposely not informed in time to fix errors.
Seven disqualified primary voters, the local NAACP branch and the Center for Coalfield Justice sued Washington County’s election board over what they called “systematic and deliberate efforts” to conceal the policy by directing elections office staff not to tell voters who called that they had made errors that prevented their votes from being counted.
The lawsuit filed in county common pleas court said the policy resulted in 259 voters being disenfranchised and many of those voters still do not realize it. The seven voters who are suing, ages 45 to 85, all had their mail-in ballots invalidated because of incomplete or missing dates, the lawsuit stated. One also failed to sign the exterior envelope and another signed in the wrong place.
“Because of the board’s actions, voters had no way of learning that their ballot would not be counted, and were deprived of the opportunity to protect their right to vote by taking advantage of an existing statutory process: voting by provisional ballot,” the lawsuit claimed.
The lawsuit seeks to have Washington County’s current policy declared unconstitutional as a violation of due process rights and to prevent the elections board from concealing information from voters and misleading them. It was filed by lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Public Interest Law Center and the Philadelphia-based law firm Dechert.
Washington County had notified voters their ballots were filled out incorrectly and gave those voters a chance to fix them until this year’s April 23 primary. For this year’s primary, the Washington commissioners voted 2-1 to not allow voters to cure improper ballots and had staff mark them in the statewide elections software as “received,” a status that does not tell voters their ballots won’t be counted. The two Republican commissioners were in favor, the Democrat opposed.
The lawsuit says no other county in Pennsylvania “actively conceals the insufficiency of a voter’s mail-in ballot submission, especially when a voter calls their county elections’ office to inquire whether their mail-in ballot meets the requirements and will be counted.”
Messages seeking comment were left Monday for Washington Board of Commissioners Chairman Nick Sherman, a Republican, and for the county’s lawyer, Gary Sweat. An ACLU lawyer said attempts to engage the commissioners on the issue drew no response.
Retired occupational therapist Bruce Jacobs, 65, one of the plaintiffs, said in a video news conference that the primary was long over by the time he learned his vote had been invalidated because he failed to sign and date the return envelope. He said he felt deceived and his rights were denied.
“County officials have eroded people’s rights to the dignity of our elections,” Jacobs said. “And I believe that this must change.”
Pennsylvania made access to mail-in ballots universal, a Democratic priority, under a 2019 law that also eliminated straight-party ticket voting, a Republican goal. The pandemic followed a few months later, fueling participation in mail-in voting. In the subsequent elections, Pennsylvania Democrats have been far more likely than Republicans to vote by mail.
The process has drawn a series of lawsuits, most notably over whether errors in filling out the exterior of the return envelope can invalidate the ballot. Earlier this year, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a mandate that the envelopes contain accurate, handwritten dates.
During the April primary, redesigned exterior envelopes reduced the rate of rejected ballots, according to state elections officials.
Older voters are disproportionately more likely to send in ballot envelopes with incorrect or missing dates, advocates have said.
veryGood! (48526)
Related
- Don't Miss This Sweet Moment Between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's Dads at the Kansas City Chiefs Game
- Michigan man arrested for planning mass killing at synagogue
- Fans Think Bad Bunny Planted These Kendall Jenner Easter Eggs in New Music Video “Where She Goes”
- On Father's Day Jim Gaffigan ponders the peculiar lives of childless men
- Federal judge denies request to block measure revoking Arkansas casino license
- 21 Essentials For When You're On A Boat: Deck Shoes, Bikinis, Mineral Sunscreen & More
- FDA gives 2nd safety nod to cultivated meat, produced without slaughtering animals
- GOP Fails to Kill Methane Rule in a Capitol Hill Defeat for Oil and Gas Industry
- Tennessee fugitive accused of killing a man and lying about a bear chase is caught in South Carolina
- Allow Viola Davis to Give You a Lesson on Self-Love and Beauty
Ranking
- California voters reject proposed ban on forced prison labor in any form
- Trump’s Fuel Efficiency Reduction Would Be Largest Anti-Climate Rollback Ever
- Inside the Love Lives of the Fast and Furious Stars
- Weaponizing the American flag as a tool of hate
- Tom Brady Admits He Screwed Up as a Dad to Kids With Bridget Moynahan and Gisele Bündchen
- Love is something that never dies: Completing her father's bucket list
- 48 Hours investigates the claims and stunning allegations behind Vincent Simmons' conviction
- California could ban certain food additives due to concerns over health impacts
Recommendation
-
Lane Kiffin puts heat on CFP bracket after Ole Miss pounds Georgia. So, who's left out?
-
Becky Sauerbrunn, U.S. Women's National Team captain, to miss World Cup with injury
-
Georgia governor signs bill banning most gender-affirming care for trans children
-
Infection toll for recalled eyedrops climbs to 81, including 4 deaths, CDC says
-
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responds to CeeDee Lamb's excuse about curtains at AT&T Stadium
-
Bear kills Arizona man in highly uncommon attack
-
What is Babesiosis? A rare tick-borne disease is on the rise in the Northeast
-
In These U.S. Cities, Heat Waves Will Kill Hundreds More as Temperatures Rise