> The flurry of weekend rulings exactly a month before Election Day leaves the rules in place during the April 23 primary unchanged.
>
>
> That means voters casting ballots by mail in this election must complete the voter declaration on the outside of the return envelope by signing and dating it for their ballot to be counted.
>
>
> Voters using mail-in ballots should also be certain to place the ballot in the unmarked secrecy envelope before placing it in the return envelope, as that is an error that can lead to a ballot being disqualified.
>
>
> Counties where the boards of elections have adopted so-called “notice and cure” policies may notify voters of errors and allow them to fix their mistakes before polls close on Election Day. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania this week [published a guide](https://www.aclupa.org/en/pennsylvania-counties-notice-and-cure-policies) to such policies in all 67 counties.
gradientz on
Not a clean sweep, but on balance seems to be a ruling that helps the good guys. Preserving “notice and cure” will help make sure that mail-ins get counted if there are technical defects.
This is not in support of either party but I’m worried that if Trump loses but Elon says Trump wins on X trying to cause mass chaos only to delete or say it was a joke later on.
Redmannn-red-3248 on
Mail-in ballots are always a hot topic, and it’s no surprise this one’s too close to call. Gonna be some tense days ahead!
BlotchComics on
>The court also rejected a request by the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania to stop county election officials from allowing voters to remedy mistakes on their mail-in ballots that would cause them to be disqualified.
Democrats fighting to make sure all US citizens can get their vote counted. Republicans fighting to disqualify as many eligible voters as possible.
MidnightNo1766 on
“Too close to the election” is certainly a good reason to not change things. Look what would happen in NE if just one more state legislator hadn’t agreed with that philosophy.
tech57 on
Some tidbits.
> The flurry of weekend rulings exactly a month before Election Day leaves the rules in place during the April 23 primary unchanged.
>
> The court said the RNC and Pennsylvania GOP had demonstrated a lack of due diligence by failing to pursue the challenge to “notice and cure” policies earlier. The Republican organizations had asked the court to exercise its King’s Bench authority to hear the case without first litigating it in the lower courts, a power generally reserved for exceptionally urgent cases.
>
> “King’s Bench jurisdiction will not be exercised where, as here, the alleged need for timely intervention is created by Petitioners’ own failure to proceed expeditiously and thus, the need for timely intervention has not been demonstrated,”
>
> “Three election cycles have since passed, and the Petitioners have not challenged any of the county notice and cure policies in a court of common pleas,”
>
> “Deciding these questions at this point would, in my view, be highly disruptive to county election administration,”
>
> The Washington County board of elections had adopted a policy days before last April’s primary of marking ballots as “received” in the state ballot tracking system when they had actually been segregated due to a disqualifying error.
>
> Act 77 of 2019 introduced changes to the Election Code, including allow voters to cast ballots by mail without an excuse for not going to the polls. Mistakes by voters completing their ballot packets have been the subject of challenges in every election since. A study estimated that more than 10,000 voters were disenfranchised in the primary election because of such errors.
>
> Proceedings in several courts since 2020, when no-excuse mail voting was first an option, have established that the date on the outside of the envelopes serves no official purpose.
>
> The Commonwealth Court ruled last month that the dating requirement violates the Pennsylvania Constitution because it serves no compelling reason for the government to infringe upon the charter’s guarantee of the right to vote.
>
BNsucks on
The RNC, the state GQP, and even local republiquan officials are a bunch of scumbags who oppose all efforts to have a free & fair election. They support voter suppression laws and try to change the rules in hopes of gaining an advantage. They’re shameless and pathetic.
Alleandros on
If you vote by mail in PA you should probably already have your ballot, double check everything and mail it back early so if there is an issue you have time to correct.
Irishish on
> Earlier Saturday, the court granted an appeal by the RNC and the RPP challenging a Commonwealth Court ruling last month requiring election officials in Washington County to notify voters when their mail-in ballots are rejected and allow them to vote provisionally at their polling places on Election Day.
There is absolutely no defensible reason for this.
BNsucks on
*”Voters using mail-in ballots should also be certain to place the ballot in the unmarked secrecy envelope* ***before placing it in the return envelope,*** *as that is an error that can lead to a ballot being disqualified.”*
*”This means voters casting ballots by mail in this election must complete the voter declaration on the outside of the return envelope by signing and dating it for their ballot to be counted.”*
This is a bit confusing, Self-addressed return envelopes are usually on the inside.
Does this mean there are three envelopes; the **sealed** **secrecy envelope** that contains the actual ballot; the **unsealed return envelope**; and finally, the **sealed envelope** that it’s all mailed in?
Blueberry1900 on
I tend to vote in person. But you are someone that does not need to mail in a ballot, I would seriously reconsider mail in. Not because I think it is flawed or has fraud, but because the GOP seems to be ramping up a process to throw out mail in ballots if they think it will benefit Democrats.
Registered Dem? Donate to a progressive or Democratic politician? The GOP knows, they will target your vote for disqualification. So my unsolicited advise is to vote in person unless you absolutely cannot.
I have too many friends who say in person voting is inconvenient. I always ask if a minor inconvenience every 2 years is worth Abortion rights, judicial reform or whatever their cause is.
MyDarlingCaptHolt on
Every year in Pennsylvania, they argue over the rules and laws so much that we never know what’s legal or not until practically after the election.
I have my mail-in ballot on my desk, and now it looks like there’s just going to be endless lawsuits and rat fuckery and yet again I’m not going to know if my ballot will be counted if I send it by mail.
I can’t drop it off in any of the ballot boxes, because we know Republican officials can just pick up ballot boxes at any time and steal them like that Mayor in Wisconsin did.
I truly don’t feel like my ballot is going to be counted no matter what I do.
Special_Transition13 on
Can someone explain this process in simple terms?
flowersandfists on
I always vote in person. Everyone should if they’re able. I don’t trust republicans for a second.
15 Comments
> The flurry of weekend rulings exactly a month before Election Day leaves the rules in place during the April 23 primary unchanged.
>
>
> That means voters casting ballots by mail in this election must complete the voter declaration on the outside of the return envelope by signing and dating it for their ballot to be counted.
>
>
> Voters using mail-in ballots should also be certain to place the ballot in the unmarked secrecy envelope before placing it in the return envelope, as that is an error that can lead to a ballot being disqualified.
>
>
> Counties where the boards of elections have adopted so-called “notice and cure” policies may notify voters of errors and allow them to fix their mistakes before polls close on Election Day. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania this week [published a guide](https://www.aclupa.org/en/pennsylvania-counties-notice-and-cure-policies) to such policies in all 67 counties.
Not a clean sweep, but on balance seems to be a ruling that helps the good guys. Preserving “notice and cure” will help make sure that mail-ins get counted if there are technical defects.
Still, best to avoid that process, so, if you are voting by mail in PA, follow the instructions carefully ([this website](https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/vote/voter-support/mail-in-and-absentee-ballot.html#howto) and [this video](https://youtu.be/6cUqMM9knJw?si=0FgtcxYB_6BzSw61) may also help). The world is watching.
This is not in support of either party but I’m worried that if Trump loses but Elon says Trump wins on X trying to cause mass chaos only to delete or say it was a joke later on.
Mail-in ballots are always a hot topic, and it’s no surprise this one’s too close to call. Gonna be some tense days ahead!
>The court also rejected a request by the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania to stop county election officials from allowing voters to remedy mistakes on their mail-in ballots that would cause them to be disqualified.
Democrats fighting to make sure all US citizens can get their vote counted. Republicans fighting to disqualify as many eligible voters as possible.
“Too close to the election” is certainly a good reason to not change things. Look what would happen in NE if just one more state legislator hadn’t agreed with that philosophy.
Some tidbits.
> The flurry of weekend rulings exactly a month before Election Day leaves the rules in place during the April 23 primary unchanged.
>
> The court said the RNC and Pennsylvania GOP had demonstrated a lack of due diligence by failing to pursue the challenge to “notice and cure” policies earlier. The Republican organizations had asked the court to exercise its King’s Bench authority to hear the case without first litigating it in the lower courts, a power generally reserved for exceptionally urgent cases.
>
> “King’s Bench jurisdiction will not be exercised where, as here, the alleged need for timely intervention is created by Petitioners’ own failure to proceed expeditiously and thus, the need for timely intervention has not been demonstrated,”
>
> “Three election cycles have since passed, and the Petitioners have not challenged any of the county notice and cure policies in a court of common pleas,”
>
> “Deciding these questions at this point would, in my view, be highly disruptive to county election administration,”
>
> The Washington County board of elections had adopted a policy days before last April’s primary of marking ballots as “received” in the state ballot tracking system when they had actually been segregated due to a disqualifying error.
>
> Act 77 of 2019 introduced changes to the Election Code, including allow voters to cast ballots by mail without an excuse for not going to the polls. Mistakes by voters completing their ballot packets have been the subject of challenges in every election since. A study estimated that more than 10,000 voters were disenfranchised in the primary election because of such errors.
>
> Proceedings in several courts since 2020, when no-excuse mail voting was first an option, have established that the date on the outside of the envelopes serves no official purpose.
>
> The Commonwealth Court ruled last month that the dating requirement violates the Pennsylvania Constitution because it serves no compelling reason for the government to infringe upon the charter’s guarantee of the right to vote.
>
The RNC, the state GQP, and even local republiquan officials are a bunch of scumbags who oppose all efforts to have a free & fair election. They support voter suppression laws and try to change the rules in hopes of gaining an advantage. They’re shameless and pathetic.
If you vote by mail in PA you should probably already have your ballot, double check everything and mail it back early so if there is an issue you have time to correct.
> Earlier Saturday, the court granted an appeal by the RNC and the RPP challenging a Commonwealth Court ruling last month requiring election officials in Washington County to notify voters when their mail-in ballots are rejected and allow them to vote provisionally at their polling places on Election Day.
There is absolutely no defensible reason for this.
*”Voters using mail-in ballots should also be certain to place the ballot in the unmarked secrecy envelope* ***before placing it in the return envelope,*** *as that is an error that can lead to a ballot being disqualified.”*
*”This means voters casting ballots by mail in this election must complete the voter declaration on the outside of the return envelope by signing and dating it for their ballot to be counted.”*
This is a bit confusing, Self-addressed return envelopes are usually on the inside.
Does this mean there are three envelopes; the **sealed** **secrecy envelope** that contains the actual ballot; the **unsealed return envelope**; and finally, the **sealed envelope** that it’s all mailed in?
I tend to vote in person. But you are someone that does not need to mail in a ballot, I would seriously reconsider mail in. Not because I think it is flawed or has fraud, but because the GOP seems to be ramping up a process to throw out mail in ballots if they think it will benefit Democrats.
Registered Dem? Donate to a progressive or Democratic politician? The GOP knows, they will target your vote for disqualification. So my unsolicited advise is to vote in person unless you absolutely cannot.
I have too many friends who say in person voting is inconvenient. I always ask if a minor inconvenience every 2 years is worth Abortion rights, judicial reform or whatever their cause is.
Every year in Pennsylvania, they argue over the rules and laws so much that we never know what’s legal or not until practically after the election.
I have my mail-in ballot on my desk, and now it looks like there’s just going to be endless lawsuits and rat fuckery and yet again I’m not going to know if my ballot will be counted if I send it by mail.
I can’t drop it off in any of the ballot boxes, because we know Republican officials can just pick up ballot boxes at any time and steal them like that Mayor in Wisconsin did.
I truly don’t feel like my ballot is going to be counted no matter what I do.
Can someone explain this process in simple terms?
I always vote in person. Everyone should if they’re able. I don’t trust republicans for a second.