Washington County’s elected commissioners were sued Monday by voters who say the county’s vote-by-mail crackdown policy disenfranchised voters who believed their ballots would be counted.
The seven voters, the Coal Area Center for Justice (CCJ), and the Washington, D.C., NAACP allege that the policy intentionally concealed information about which voters had made disqualifying errors on their absentee ballot envelopes and was intended to mislead many voters into believing their votes would be accepted and counted.
“I thought I did everything correctly when I voted by mail in this year’s early elections, but I made a mistake. I forgot to sign and date the outer envelope,” he said Bruce JacobsWashington County resident and long-time voter. “Washington County election officials knew I had made a mistake when they received my ballot. They knew they would reject my vote because of that mistake. I would like county officials to respect me as an American with a fundamental right to vote and give me a chance to correct my mistake.”
Ahead of the 2024 primary, the Washington County Board ended its current policy of notifying and correcting mail-in ballots. In previous elections, the county warned voters who submitted ballots with easily correctable errors, including incorrect or missing dates handwritten on the outer envelope, and gave them an opportunity to correct the error to ensure their vote was counted.
The board’s fresh policy, which was adopted on a 2-1 vote, was a reversal of its previous policy and resulted in 259 voters being disenfranchised in the last primary election. Republican Commissioners Nick Sherman AND Electra Janis voted for the policy change, while Democrats Larry Maggie opposed the change.
Additionally, the board instructed its elections office staff not to provide any information about disqualifying errors in absentee ballot packages, even if a voter calls the office to inquire about it.
With no way of knowing that their postal vote had been cancelled, voters had no way of saving their right to vote by casting a provisional ballot at their polling station.
In neighboring Fayette and Allegheny counties, where voters have the opportunity to correct errors through a “notice and cure” process, 50 percent or more of voters correct these errors so that their votes can count.
“No government official or agency should knowingly disenfranchise its constituents” he said Witold WalczakACLU of Pennsylvania legal director. “The board’s decision to conceal the true status of returned absentee ballots with minor but disqualifying errors led to unnecessary disenfranchisement. Had Washington County provided accurate and timely information about the status of voters’ absentee ballots, many of the 259 disenfranchised voters likely could have kept their votes.”
Following the board’s policy change ahead of the April primary, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the Law Center sent letter calling for a change to that policy, or at least to utilize the existing statewide registration database system so that voters are automatically notified by email.
“The right to vote is the foundation of a well-functioning democracy and the right from which all others flow,” he said. Mimi McKenzie, Legal Director, Public Interest Law Center“The refusal of the Washington County Board of Elections to tell voters they made a mistake, and in fact to mislead voters, is an attack on democracy. County boards of elections should support voting, not hinder it.”
The seven voters, the CCJ, and the NAACP branch are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center, and Dechert LLP.
