Pennsylvania election officials are scrambling to warn thousands of voters who did not correctly date their mail-in ballots that their votes will not be counted on Tuesday following a last-minute court ruling that could rock the airtight Senate race in the Keystone State.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Saturday that any mail-in ballot submitted without a date between Sept. 19 and Nov. 8 should not be tabulated, court records show. Absentee ballots must be dated between August 30 and November 8.
In Philadelphia County, the state’s most populous county, about 363 ballots were incorrectly dated and 1,986 were undated at the time of the ruling.
“All of these ballots have the option of NOT being counted,” Philadelphia city commissioners said in a statement Saturday that included a list of affected voters. “Voters on these lists are strongly advised to request a replacement ballot from the County Council Elections Office.”
Statewide in Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, 617 early voters had their ballots incorrectly dated and another 385 had no date on their ballots as of Sunday.
“As there is no possibility to notify affected voters by letter of this decision and their possibility of recovery, we are instead providing a list of voters who returned ballots in these two categories: without date and with an incorrect date,” Allegheny County said in a statement Sunday.
Allegheny County residents who incorrectly dated their ballots can correct them by submitting a provisional ballot or reporting to the county election office on Monday or Tuesday, but officials are concerned that the late decision by the court means that those affected do not know the status of their vote in time.
The Senate race between Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democratic Lt. Governor John Fetterman has tightened in recent weeks, with Oz leading Fetterman in the polls by an average of 0.1 percentage points on Monday, according to RealClear Politics.
The snafu could cost the Fetterman campaign dearly, as the vast majority of early and mail-in votes in the Keystone state were cast by registered Democrats.
As of Monday, more than 1.1 million Pennsylvanians had turned in mail-in ballots, nearly 70% of whom were registered as Democrats, according to the United States Elections Project. About 21.1% of those ballots were cast by Registered Republicans, with the remaining 9.2% coming from unaffiliated voters or those who identify with lesser political parties.
About 50% of those who submitted mail-in ballots were age 65 or older, raising concerns that those who voted improperly by mail could not physically enter county buildings to process their ballots. of voting.
“Voters unable to attend the Elections Office due to a disability may authorize a Designated Agent to cure their ballot on their behalf using a Designated Agent Cure Form, which has been specifically designed for this purpose. “, Allegheny County said.
Oz edged out Fetterman in several polls after the Democrat struggled through his highly anticipated Oct. 25 televised debate.
Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May, stumbled over his words and struggled to give coherent answers despite being allowed to use caption monitors to follow both the questions of the moderator and the remarks of the famous doctor.
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