A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled that county officials must count the provisional ballots of individuals claiming their mail-in ballots were rejected, expanding an infamous practice known as ballot curing.
The Commonwealth Court overturned a Butler County judge’s ruling that officials did not have to count the provisional ballots of individuals whose naked ballots were rejected, reported the Penn Capital-Star on Thursday.
Naked ballots refer to those submitted without the required secrecy envelope and placed directly into the return envelope. Secrecy envelopes provide a layer of privacy and prevent unauthorized individuals from seeing the voter’s choice.
Judge Matthew S. Wolf, writing for the majority, claimed that the Butler County Board of Elections lacked the legal basis to reject counting provisional ballots.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party and Butler County Board of Elections had contended that state election laws, known as the Election Code, prohibited voters from casting provisional ballots if their mail-in ballots were received on time.
The lower court ruled that counting these provisional ballots amounted to ballot curing, allowing voters to fix their ballots even after submission.
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania GOP argued at the time, “There can be no dispute that the unequivocal law of Pennsylvania is that secrecy envelopes are required, and any mail-in ballot received without a secrecy envelope cannot be counted.”
The appeals court’s ruling marks yet another blow to election integrity measures ahead of the 2024 presidential election. On Friday, the Commonwealth Court ordered the Democratic strongholds of Philadelphia and Allegheny counties to count mismarked ballots.
“The refusal to count undated or incorrectly dated but timely mail ballots submitted by otherwise eligible voters because of meaningless and inconsequential paperwork errors violates the fundamental right to vote recognized in the free and equal elections clause,” Judge Ellen Ceisler wrote at the time, according to Spotlight Pa.
Pennsylvania is a must-win state for Vice President Kamala Harris, President Donald Trump’s Democratic opponent.
