Pennsylvania Democratic Party sues Erie Board of Elections over thousands of missing mail-in ballots • Pennsylvania Capital-Star

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is seeking a temporary restraining order against the Erie County Board of Elections over issues with mail-in ballots that it claims could affect up to 20,000 voters.

The problems in Erie began with an Ohio-based third-party provider, ElectionIQ, which the county hired to print and mail its mail-in ballots given the volume of requests for mail-in ballots the county has received for the upcoming election. A voter notified the Erie Board of Elections and the county voter registration office on Oct. 18 that he had received two mail-in ballots, one with the correct information and a second with another voter's name and address on the return envelope.

A software error caused ElectionIQ sends duplicate ballots that went into the wrong envelopes. The county estimated that about 300 people received duplicate or incorrect ballots, and the U.S. Postal Service “failed to account for an additional 1,800 mail-in ballots,” according to the lawsuit, which the county said was never mailed by ElectionIQ.

The state Democratic Party claims in its filing that it “has been made aware by its registered party members of numerous instances in which a voter requested an absentee ballot weeks ago but has still not received their ballot.”

The lawsuit alleges that Erie's mail-in ballot returns are below the national average 21,536 of 40,844 of Voters who requested postal votes – around 52% – get it by October 28th. That's a difference of 19,308 voters. Nationally, the response rate is 67%, with Erie's response rate among the lowest in the commonwealth, the lawsuit says.

The party's lawsuit aims to force the election board to disclose the names of all voters who received incorrect ballots or did not receive their ballots and to ensure they are notified. and to extend Board of Elections hours through Nov. 4, the day before Election Day.

The lawsuit also asks the county to allow observers to compare ballots received after Nov. 1 to confirm that the voter is eligible to vote. The lawsuit seeks to have blank “Cancel Ballot Request” forms available in every precinct by Election Day so that someone who does not receive their ballot on time can cancel their absentee ballot request and vote in person.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

State Representatives Ryan Bizzarro, Bob Merski and Pat Harkins said in a joint statement that they are “committed to ensuring that all of our voters in Erie County – Democrats, Republicans or Independents – have the information they need to vote and to participate in our democracy.” . Our primary concern is to hold free and fair elections and to always ensure that people’s right to vote is upheld and protected.”

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The county extended the hours of operation for voter registration and election departments. Anyone who requested a mail-in ballot by the October 29th deadline and did not receive a letter can visit the BOE office to cancel their mail-in ballot and receive a new one by November 4th at 4:30 p.m. before the election. The voter registration office will be open with extended hours through November 3rd.

Sam Talarico, chairman of the Erie County Democrats, said Wednesday he had not seen the lawsuit but was receiving calls from constituents seeking instructions. “We told them they had to go to the courthouse and cancel their ballot, and then they could vote right at the courthouse,” he said.

This applies to people who have already registered to vote and have requested a postal vote. The statewide deadline to request an absentee ballot was Tuesday at 5 p.m. (with a few Exceptions). “And we even gave some people rides to get to the courthouse and we let a few people pick up their ballots. You must sign a designated representative form. So we’re just doing what we can to make sure everyone votes.”

Erie is widely seen as a key piece in Pennsylvania's electoral puzzle, a frontrunner for the battleground state that must be won. Former President Donald Trump held one of his first events of 2024 Campaign events in Erie in July 2023and his vice president, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, spoke in Erie last week. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Erie County in 2016 by a margin just over 1,900 votesa devastating loss for Democrats as the state went red. Clinton did not appear on the campaign trail in Erie during her presidential bid.

Democrats appeared to have learned from their defeat in 2016; Joe Biden defeated Trump in Erie in the 2020 election by a margin of 1 Lead of just over 1,400 votes, or 1.03% as Pennsylvania turned blue again.