Pennsylvania district court says voters must be informed about voting errors

A Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday that election officials in a western Pennsylvania county must notify voters if their absentee ballots cannot be counted and record that information in the statewide election system.

In an order issued Monday, a Washington County Common Pleas Court judge found that county election officials violated voters’ statutory rights by refusing to inform them whether their absentee ballots were invalid.

While this case specifically concerns Washington County and its actions, The ruling, issued during the April primary, sends a message to election officials across the state about how to handle improperly filled-out ballots. The November election is approaching.

“A government-appointed board does not have unfettered discretionary authority to decide whether a vote will be cast and counted. The policy adopted by the Washington County Board of Elections clearly violated the statutory right to allow a person to act as a check and balance against the government,” Washington County Judge Brandon Neuman said in his order.

Voters need to know their vote has been rejected so they can appeal the decision, and they need to be able to cast a provisional ballot, Neuman said.

The judge’s order comes after a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Public Interest Law Center on behalf of voters and civic engagement groups in Washington County. It is one of several cases that could affect which votes are counted in November, when Pennsylvania will play a key role in choosing the next president.

The last two presidential elections in the state were decided by about 1 percentage point, meaning any change in how votes are counted matters.

“This decision is a victory for the integrity and transparency of our elections in Pennsylvania and ensures that Washington County voters will have the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to vote in November,” Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center, said in a statement.

In a statement, Washington County Commissioner Nick Sherman, a Republican who chairs the Election Commission, criticized the decision as an example of judicial overreach and lawmaking from the bench. He said the commission was considering next steps.

“This is a page out of the national Democratic Party playbook. When they disagree with a state law, they arm the ACLU and find a liberal judge to rule in their favor,” Sherman said.

Statewide, nearly 8,000 ballots were rejected in the April primary because of problems with the date, signature or privacy envelope. Voting rights advocates, including the ACLU, have been pushing counties across the state to adopt “notice and cure” policies to assist voters fix those problems before Election Day — and reduce the number of people disenfranchised because of the errors.

In his ruling, Neuman said only the Legislature can order counties to adopt “notice and cure” policies that allow voters to tamper with their votes, but he added that state law already requires counties to notify voters if their vote is not counted so they can challenge the decision.

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and the Public Interest Law Center have been involved in numerous other similar lawsuits challenging state laws requiring voters to write the date on their absentee ballots, as well as county practices regarding which absentee ballots are counted.

These lawsuits were intended to reduce the likelihood of a voter making a minor mistake that ultimately invalidates a vote. Civil Rights Groups argue in state court that the date requirement should be rejected. The ACLU is involved in a similar case alongside the NAACP in federal court.