Here’s what we know about undated mail-in ballots & legal challenges in Centre County
More than 100 mail-in ballots were rejected in the Nov. 8 election in Centre County due to either a signature or date issue, while a legal challenge to one mail ballot has been launched.
Days before the Pennsylvania midterm election, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court order directed counties not to count any undated mail-in ballots. It later clarified that mail-in ballots were to be rejected if the handwritten dates fall before Sept. 19 or after Nov. 8, and absentee ballots were to be rejected if they were dated before Aug. 30 or after Nov. 8.
Ballot curing — contacting voters who’ve made mistakes and giving them a chance to correct them — was left up to individual counties. Centre County was among those that did not do any ballot curing.
During Thursday’s Centre County elections board meeting, Beth Lechman, elections director, said the board rejected 22 ballots with no date, 94 with an incorrect or incomplete date, and eight without a signature.
While the county didn’t do ballot curing, Centre County Commissioner Michael Pipe said the suggestion they gave to anyone inquiring about potentially fixing a date or signature issue was to cast a provisional ballot.
If anybody voted provisionally and there was an issue with their mail-in ballot, their provisional ballot was counted, unless there was a violation, Lechman said.
Then Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman’s campaign, joined by Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, also filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state Supreme Court’s decision.
Lechman said the rejected ballots are kept in their own container in case there is any further decision.
The only known legal challenge unfolding inside the Centre County Courthouse involves a single ballot.
Linda S. Sheckler, of Spring Township, appealed Thursday a decision from the county’s board of elections to count the ballot of a woman whose registered address is a Penn State dorm that’s closed to students.
The appeal alleged the woman failed to declare her new residence when she moved from Centre County to Montgomery County.
The woman was “not entitled to vote in Centre County,” attorney Michael Shakley wrote. He asked a Centre County judge to grant the appeal and order the board of elections to reject the ballot.
The board voted Monday along partisan lines to accept the ballot. Democratic Commissioners Pipe and Mark Higgins voted to count the ballot, while Republican Commissioner Steve Dershem voted against counting the ballot.
It was the first time in at least two decades that a hearing was conducted for a challenged ballot, Pipe said. No hearings have been scheduled.
Reporter Bret Pallotto contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 9:49 AM.
