Two recent developments will help Pennsylvanians who vote by mail instead of nitpicking their ballots | PennLive Editorial

There have been two recent developments in the 2024 elections that will benefit Pennsylvania voters who want to mail in their ballots in the upcoming elections.

First, the Pennsylvania's Supreme Court rejected Cornel West's bid to be listed as a presidential candidate on our ballot, which has delayed the start of mail-in voting.

And Dauphin County's election board announced it will notify voters of mistakes in their mailed ballots and allow corrections to be made.

Both are good decisions that put the interests of voters first.

Mail-in voting already should have started. County election officials usually send out mail-in ballots weeks before the election to voters who request them. But everything has been on hold because of Cornel West demanding to be on the ballot in Pennsylvania.

The state Supreme Court now ended that battle. It affirmed the lower Commonwealth Court decision that West didn't meet the criteria to be on the ballot. Secretary of State Al Schmidt said West didn't produce the required affidavits for 14 of his 19 presidential electors. Case closed. We can move on. People are ready to start mailing in their votes.

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

Dauphin County's elections board also is to be commended for deciding it will help mail-in voters, many of whom are elderly and infirm. They've decided to allow mail-in voters to correct mistakes in their mail-in ballots. That's the right thing to do.

Votebeat and Spotlight PA said officials rejected about 8,500 mail-in ballots in the April primary due to simple mistakes such lack of a signature, date, or the secrecy envelope. Pennsylvania's vote-by-mail law mandates voters sign and date their outer return envelope and place their ballot in an inner secrecy envelope.

It's easy to miss one of those steps, but it shouldn't result in your ballot being thrown into the trash. Now the county board has a plan to return ballots to voters if every "I" isn't dotted or "T" crossed.

A state court ruling two weeks ago might have helped people who vote by mail. It ruled ballots that don't have a date on the envelop should be accepted. But that ruling has been overruled , meaning signatures and dates are still required for ballots to be counted. Such nitpicking doesn't help Pennsylvania voters, and it doesn't help democracy.

But the other developments will help both Republican and Democratic voters who mail in their ballots. Everyone will benefit. And we urge every county that has not taken moves like Dauphin County to do so immediately. We need to help voters and not put obstacles in their way.

As a reminder, the deadline for counties to receive a completed mail-in ballot is when polls close, by law, at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Oct. 29 is the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot.

Every vote will count in the Nov. 5 election, and Pennsylvania voters will play a key role in determining who will lead our nation for the next four years.

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