Pennsylvania has an election problem that needs to be resolved.
Elections can be complicated. Same with politics. But this is a ridiculously easy issue that doesn’t need to be the stumbling block it has become.
It’s all about dates.
Since Act 77 of 2019 was passed, broadening the access to remote voting via no-excuse mail-in ballots, the simple act of writing down the date has become a subject of intense scrutiny.
It’s not a new action. Signing your name and writing the date has been a part of completing official documents for ages.
However, people sign a blizzard of documents in their lives. The stack when you check into a doctor’s office can be staggering. The pile you get registering a kid for school or summer camp or day care? Even more daunting. With the papers required by law and the ones used to head off liability, even the simplest action can feel like signing a mortgage.
And so people miss things. They cut corners. They sign their names quickly and illegibly and ignore the date after being asked for it 10 times a day. It happens.
But when it comes to voting, should it?
Pennsylvania law requires a number of steps to vote from home. Fill out your ballot. Place it in the provided small envelope that keeps it safe and private. Then place it in the larger provided envelope that is, in itself, a separate document that needs to be filled out. Print your name, add your address and write the date.
The question for some people has become how important that date is. It’s required by law. But does that matter? The Legislature made the rules, so clearly lawmakers think it’s pretty important.
The courts have gone with the spirit of the law more than its letter. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said in 2020 that undated ballots in the 45th District race between state Sen. Jim Brewster and now-Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli could be counted. In May, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a similar ruling regarding a Lehigh County judicial seat.
That gets into the counties, and that’s where things get sticky. The 45th crosses county lines, with the final decision delayed for months as Allegheny argued for counting undated ballots and Westmoreland against it. It was also a factor in the U.S. Senate primary showdown between Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick, who ultimately conceded.
This needs to be resolved. Continuing to seesaw between interpretations of the law — whether by the court or elections boards — is no way to run an election. If the law is at all unclear, it needs to be addressed.
Either make the requirement of dates ironclad or remove it from the envelope and negate the issue.
— Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP
