Two recent developments will help Pennsylvanians who vote by mail instead of holding on to their votes | PennLive Editorial

The recent 2024 election saw two developments that will benefit Pennsylvania voters who wish to cast their ballots by mail in the upcoming election.

First, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Cornel West’s request to be included on the presidential ballot, which delayed the start of absentee voting.

The Dauphin County Election Commission announced it will notify voters about errors in mail-in votes and allow corrections to be made.

Both decisions are good and take into account, above all, the interests of voters.

Absentee voting should have already begun. County election officials typically send absentee ballots weeks before an election to voters who request them. But that was put on hold by Cornel West, who demanded to have his ballot placed on the ballot in Pennsylvania.

The state Supreme Court has now ended that battle. It has affirmed a lower Commonwealth Court decision that West does not meet the criteria to be on the ballot. Secretary of State Al Schmidt has said that West has not provided required affidavits from 14 of the 19 presidential electors. Case closed. We can move on. People are ready to start sending in their ballots by mail.

Pennsylvania voters will choose between Vice President Kamala Harris on the Democratic side, former President Donald Trump on the Republican side, Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver.

The Dauphin County Board of Elections also deserves credit for deciding to help absentee voters, many of whom are elderly and infirm. They decided to allow absentee voters to correct errors on their ballots. That’s the right thing to do.

Votebeat and Spotlight PA reported that officials rejected about 8,500 mail-in ballots in the April primary because of simple errors, such as a missing signature, date or secrecy envelope. Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law requires voters to sign and date the outer return envelope and place the ballot in an inner secrecy envelope.

It’s easy to skip one of these steps, but that shouldn’t result in your ballot being thrown in the trash. Now, the county board has a plan to return ballots to voters if all the i’s aren’t dotted or the T’s aren’t crossed.

A state court ruling from two weeks ago could have helped people who voted by mail. It ruled that ballots with undated envelopes should be accepted. But that ruling has been overturned, meaning signatures and dates are still required for votes to be counted. Such nitpicking doesn’t help Pennsylvania voters and it doesn’t help democracy.

But other events will help both Republican and Democratic voters who send their ballots by mail. It will benefit everyone. And we urge every county that hasn’t taken steps like Dauphin County to do so immediately. We need to help voters, not hinder them.

As a reminder, the deadline for counties to receive your completed absentee ballot is when polls close, as required by law, at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. October 29 is the deadline to request an absentee ballot.

Every vote will count in the November 5 election, and Pennsylvania voters will play a critical role in determining who will govern our country for the next four years.

Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider becoming one supporting our work.

Subscribe PA Battlefield podcast about the latest developments in the 2024 elections!