Pennsylvania Counties Offer Fixes for Flawed Mail Ballots Before Election Day
Under a new Supreme Court order, voters in Philadelphia and four surrounding counties can correct errors on their mailed ballots to ensure their votes are counted.
By Lorenzo Patterson ·
Voters in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties can now repair errors on their mail ballots before Election Day. These five jurisdictions follow a notice-and-cure process mandated by a 2025 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling. The court order requires counties to inform voters when their submitted ballots contain flaws that would prevent them from being counted.
In the 2024 general election, nearly 2 million Pennsylvania residents cast ballots by mail. This option has been available to all state voters since 2020. The state Department of State provides an online tool for residents in all 67 counties to track the status of their absentee or mail ballots.
The notice-and-cure method allows voters to correct specific issues after submission. County boards of elections send notifications to individuals whose ballots were filed with errors. Voters then have the opportunity to fix, or cure, the defective ballot. This process distinguishes these counties from others in the commonwealth that use a different remediation method.
Counties outside of the Philadelphia region handle flawed ballots differently. In those areas, election officials notify voters that their mail ballot has been rejected. These voters receive instructions to cast a provisional ballot at their local polling place on Election Day. The state Supreme Court ruled that provisional ballots from voters with previously rejected mail ballots must be counted.
The notice-and-cure process applies specifically to the Philadelphia area and its four collar counties. Election officials in these jurisdictions contact voters to identify the specific errors on their ballots. Voters can then submit a corrected version to replace the defective original. This ensures that technical mistakes do not disqualify the vote before it is tallied.
Voters with questions about their specific ballot status or error corrections should contact their local county election board. These offices provide information on the timeline for curing defects and the specific requirements for each county. The state encourages voters to verify their ballot status using the online tracking tool provided by the Department of State.
Election Day remains the deadline for in-person voting and provisional ballot casting. Voters in the notice-and-cure counties must complete the correction process before this date. The Supreme Court ruling establishes the legal framework for these procedures, ensuring that voters receive notice and a chance to fix their ballots. County election boards retain the authority to manage the administrative details of the cure process.
Source: WHYY-FM
