In our tribal politics, issues affecting apresidential
election can take on emotional, partisan overtones. Unfortunately, local Republican
public officials can lose sight of their important role to remain even-handed
in the administration of elections. They may wrongly overlook the fact that
they were elected to serve all voters and to insure that all votes count.
In an effort to galvanize an election victory, they may choose
a partisan plan that increases the odds for their preferred candidates even if
the decision suppresses the vote. Moreover, there may be a political
self-interest in “throwing a bone” to the vocal and extreme “election deniers”
within their jurisdiction to gain their support.
Last week, the Washington Republican Commissioners, Nick Sherman
and Electra Janis, took such a partisan action regarding a voter’s right to
cure a defective mail-in ballot. The Commissioners removed this fair voting
measure, reversing prior county election office procedures that permitted
curing. This ensured that voters who, in error, submit defective mail-in
ballots will not be notified of the mistake or permitted to correct their
ballot.
The decision was made to minimize voter participation and
without regard for the reasonable interpretation of current Pennsylvania
election law. Notably, neighboring Republican counties and other counties
across the Commonwealth have taken the opposite position. They continue to
permit the curing of mail-in ballots to ensure that all votes count.
I recently reviewed the tangled web of election laws and
legal opinions that have brought confusion to Pennsylvania elections. The
current election law, Act 77 went into effect in April 2020. While Republicans
initially supported the law, it has since been subject to constant litigation. Our
Republican Commissioners have used the complexity of election law to camouflage
their position that is designed solely to silence votes. There is no law or
legal opinion that compels them to do so.
Once the complex web is untangled, the following points are
revealed.
·
Past elections have confirmed that mail-in
ballot fraud is exceptionally rare. There is no evidence that mail-in ballots,
other than rejecting defective ballots with no right to cure, would materially
affect the outcome of any Pennsylvania election.
·
The PA. Supreme Court ruled that ballots are
accepted only if they are sent in an official return envelope and within an inner
secrecy envelope.
·
Our Supreme Court also ruled that counties could
not reject ballots because the voter’s signature on the outer envelope did not
match one on file.
·
Voters can only return their own ballot to a
drop box or to the local election office.
·
The most recent litigation involves the
requirement of Act 77 that voters correctly sign and date the outer envelope
for a mail-in ballot to be counted. In April, a three member panel of the
Federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld the
provisions of Act 77 and ruled that ballots must be properly dated.
·
In the opinion, the majority admitted, “The date
requirement is irrelevant to whether a vote is received timely.” In other words, the date requirement in Act
77 serves no useful purpose.
·
The ACLU and NAACP, among others, have
petitioned the full Third Circuit to reconsider the decision. A spokesperson
has commented, “The thousands of voters affected here are eligible and
registered. They completed their mail ballots, signed the return envelope and
got their ballots in on time. Their votes should count.”
·
Our Republican Commissioners and their
supporters in justifying their decision not to permit a voter to cure a
defective mail-in ballot often cite this opinion upholding the useless date
requirement. Importantly, there is no discussion or ruling in the opinion that
prohibits a voter’s right to cure a defective ballot.
·
Ballot curing is a two-step process that
requires notification by the election office of an error and correction by the
voter. Act 77 does not address ballot curing. The Republican Commissioners
argue that this omission means it should not be done. All Pennsylvania right to
vote groups and most election law experts disagree.
·
Thirty states including Texas and Florida
require election officials to notify voters of errors and permit corrections of
mail-in ballots.
·
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has issued an
order permitting ballot curing to continue.
·
In each election cycle since 2020, when mail-in
voting was implemented in Pennsylvania, there have been thousands of mail ballots
not counted because of unintended technical errors voters made when completing
their ballots. Counties, including Washington County until last week, corrected
this problem by permitting ballot curing.
Spotlight PA, has concluded that
errors on mail-in ballots impact specific communities of voters more
than others, including older voters, low-income voters and voters in
communities of color. According to Marian Schneider, senior voting rights policy counsel at the
ACLU of Pennsylvania, these disparities have been known for years. Schneider
has noted that “Whenever you have a strict reading of election
rules, it’s going to disproportionately impact low income voters and … nonwhite
voters,”
Our Republican Commissioners
are well aware of these voting statistics. Following the bipartisan review of
the 2020 election results, voter fraud could no longer be used by Republicans
to debunk mail-in voting. It was time to find a new scheme to limit legitimate
voting and provide the Republican Party with an unfair advantage in our
important battleground state.
Supporters of fair elections
must denouce the decision by Commissioners Sherman and Janis to disenfranchise
Washington County voters by adopting officially mandated voter suppression.
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