PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Three ballots from Delaware County voters remain in limbo while officials ask a court how voters should fix a mistake.
Marian Schneider with the ACLU says this case stems from three of clients who tried to vote in the May primary.
“Their ballots were not counted,” Schneider said. “They first tried to vote by mail. They made a mistake on their envelope — either they forgot the date or wrote the wrong date, or they made a mistake on the signature line.”
Schneider says, under current law, Delaware County is not allowed to count those votes.
“Our clients went to the polling place on primary day and voted a provisional ballot. Delaware County is not counting the provisional ballots either,” Schneider said.
She says they took this issue to court, soon after the May election. Now they’re asking the court to make a ruling on the case in favor of the right to vote, and order the Delaware County Board of Elections to count the ballots.
Board Director Jim Allen says a state court ruling forbids counting these provisional ballots.
“There’s a Court of the Commonwealth decision that says if a voter returns the ballot, even if it has that fatal flaw, they’re not able to cast a provisional ballot in the precinct.”
He says they want to fix this issue of the uncounted ballots before the next election.
“We’re hoping that, regardless of the outcome, we get clarity from the courts — because, in principle, we agree with the ACLU that the voter in this case should be allowed to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day.”
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