Republicans Are Trying to Block Voters in a Crucial Swing State
If Republicans get their way in Pennsylvania, voters won’t be able to correct technical problems with their ballots.
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party filed a lawsuit in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Wednesday against the state’s 67 county election boards and Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a Republican. The lawsuit not only would stop ballot correction but would also prevent voters from being able to cast a provisional ballot if their mail ballot is rejected for technical reasons.
Republicans claim that state law bars election officials from telling voters about such issues and allowing their ballots to be fixed and counted. In many other states, such corrections are allowed, such as when a date or signature is missing on a ballot or envelope, or when signatures don’t match. A restriction on provisional ballots could hurt voters who run into problems after showing up at their polling place, such as their name not appearing on the registration rolls.
Schmidt’s office responded to the lawsuit, saying they support “allowing voters to rectify technical deficiencies so their vote is counted.”
“We will continue to fight for every eligible citizen’s right to vote and have their voice heard,” a spokesperson said.
Donald Trump has railed against mail-in balloting, attacking the U.S. Postal Service and claiming it’s ridden with fraud, in an attempt to undermine confidence in the voting option, which is more likely to be used by Democrats. Pennsylvania has been a particular target of the former president and convicted felon, as he has claimed without evidence that 20 percent of mail-in ballots in the state are fraudulent.
The USPS may be a major factor during the 2024 election, as service has worsened in many states in the past few years. Many battleground states such as Georgia still have lower than average delivery times, and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump appointee, has been accused of deliberately hurting the postal service to pursue a privatization agenda.
