Pennsylvania counties are allowed to notify voters that their mail-in ballots are incomplete, a state judge ruled Thursday.
The Republican National Convention, which filed the lawsuit, claimed that state law did not allow counties to make any changes to the ballot, a move called ballot curing. State election law does not address ballot curing other than to allow voters who were missing identification when voting by mail to provide it after Election Day, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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“Such sweeping relief against the 67 County Boards would clearly cause greater injury than refusing the injunction, precisely because it would seriously harm the public interest and orderly administration of the 2022 General Election, which is already well underway,” Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler wrote in her ruling.
The RNC cited a state Supreme Court ruling in 2020 that found the power to change laws rested with the legislature, but Ceisler said the ruling only found state law does not require ballot curing and did not expressly prohibit it.
The way that the state handles ballot curing depends on the county, meaning that some counties undertake “notice and cure” procedures that alert voters of ballot issues and helps them resolve it. However, the RNC claimed the inconsistency across the counties means some people are allowed to change parts of their ballots while others’ would be tossed out.
The question of how best to handle ballots has been debated since the 2020 presidential election, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread mail-in voting. Voters can make “fatally flawed” mistakes through mail-in ballots, including voting without adding the signatures that are required on ballots under state law, according to the outlet.
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The RNC said it is likely to appeal their loss to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
