Local county officials work to alert Pa. voters with flawed mail-in ballots

Annie McCormick Image
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Local county officials work to alert Pa. voters with flawed mail-in ballots
Local county officials work to alert Pa. voters with flawed mail-in ballots

LEVITTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The last day to request a mail-in ballot is next Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

With only 13 days until Election Day, county officials in our region are working to alert voters with flawed mail-in ballots.

While not every county in the commonwealth does outreach, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Philadelphia and Delaware counties do alert voters who made mistakes and encourage them to correct them by reaching out to their county election office to follow the proper steps.

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Each county is different in how they fix or curate the ballots. Some tell voters to cancel their ballot and request a new one. Others want voters to come in person to make the correction.

It's best to contact your election officials with questions.

Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija serves as the Chair of the Board of Elections.

"If there is any problem with the ballot we identify it immediately," said Makhija.

Makhija says they are on track for a record voter turnout.

Montgomery County voters with flawed mail-in ballots will get alerted by mail, phone, and email, according to Makhija.

"We also publish a list online that lists right now 350 ballots that have issues. People can request a ballot on the spot and submit it. That's never been the case before when we have this many options," said Makhija

These are the numbers of flawed mail-in ballots per county in Philadelphia and surrounding counties.

  • Bucks Co.: 468
  • Montgomery Co.: 350
  • Chester Co.: 524
  • Delaware Co.: 539

Many voters are opting to cast their mail-in ballots in person or on-demand, where they request, fill out and return the ballot all at once instead of using satellite offices or drop boxes.

Hundreds have been showing up to county offices in Bucks County since mail-in ballots arrived. The lines outside of a Doylestown and Levittown location were long.

"We only have a certain number of computers to operate and a certain number of people who are full-time employees and trained," said Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, who chairs the Board of Elections.

"This process of doing the on-demand in person here or in Levittown is one of the slower ways," Harvie added.

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