267 Lancaster County mail-in ballots flagged for clerical errors so far
With less than two weeks to go before the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot, Lancaster County election officials have flagged clerical errors on 267 ballots out of more than 28,000 returned by voters so far.
The number represents almost 1% of ballots returned, according to an analysis of mail-in ballot data from the Department of State. That's in line with recent elections both for Lancaster County and statewide.
The 267 ballots were disqualified for one of three reasons: ballot return envelopes not dated by the voter, unsigned return envelopes, and those with an incorrect date.
Voters can check to see if their ballot is one of them at the Department of State website .
The number does not include ballots returned without the secrecy envelope – the yellow envelope voters must put their ballot in before placing it in the outer return envelope.
Election staff do not determine if a secrecy envelope is missing until pre-canvassing begins, Christa Miller, the county elections director, said at a Board of Elections meeting Wednesday. State law prevents elections offices from starting that process, which involves opening ballots and prepping them for scanning – until 7 a.m. on Election Day.
VOTERS GUIDE: Voting by mail? Here's what you need to know
Voters whose ballots have been disqualified can cast a provisional ballot, Miller confirmed Wednesday. A provisional ballot is offered to voters at polling places when it's not clear they're eligible to cast a vote. Election workers then research each provisional ballot after the election to see if it can be tallied with the final vote.
According to state data updated on Wednesday, Lancaster County officials have sent out almost 60,000 ballots, with just under half returned.
That's already more than the April primary.
"We're basically at 60,000 mail ballots already and we have 13 days to go," before the Oct. 29 application deadline, Miller said. The elections director said the county may end up seeing more than 70,000 mail-in ballot requests this year.
Based on recent history, 15% to 20% of voters who request ballots don't end up returning them, Miller said. If that holds steady, Lancaster County could end up with about 60,000 votes from mail-in ballots this election.
In the 2020 presidential election, pandemic-related concerns led to more than 95,000 Lancaster County voters to request a mail-in ballot. Almost 79,000 of them cast their vote with a mail-in ballot.
So far this election, Democrats are again outpacing Republicans and independent or third-party voters with mail-in ballots. Registered Democrats represent a third of the electorate in Lancaster County, but have requested almost 50% of mail-in ballots as of Wednesday.
The gap has narrowed from the 2022 midterms. That election, twice as many Democrats voted by mail as Republicans, despite the GOP's 18-point voter registration advantage.
Of the 267 ballots with clerical errors as of Wednesday, 143 came from Democrats and 101 from Republicans, according to the elections office. That means the share of Democrats who made mistakes is about five percentage points higher than their share of mail-in requestors.
READ: Lancaster County voters can overcome mail ballot mistakes only on Election Day
Don't wait
The deadline to register to vote or update your registration is Monday at 5 p.m., and the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Oct. 29.
Lancaster County officials announced Wednesday that the elections office will have extended operating hours ahead of Nov. 5, starting a week earlier than in the past, Commissioner Ray D'Agostino said Wednesday.
The extended hours will help elections staff deal with "early voters." The mail-in voting process allows Pennsylvania voters to go to the elections office and apply for and fill out the mail-in ballot on the spot.
But voters cannot take advantage of this form of early voting after the Oct. 29 deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot.
