AFA of PA ACTION ALERT

November 4, 2022

Issue

What Will Your County Do This Election Cycle?

Details

As you have probably read the PA Department of State (DOS) has sent out over 250,000 mail-in ballots without first verifying that those requesting them are actual voters.  The DOS has said counties are to verify that the ballots are from real voters.  The counties are supposed to set them aside and cross check the last four digits of the Social Security number or driver’s license number that has been entered on the mail-in ballot to confirm the numbers match the voter’s name. This would be done either by going through Penn DOT or the federal Social Security number verification system, depending on which numbers are given.  If the name and numbers don’t match, the county election officials must contact the voter and the discrepancy must be rectified within six days or that ballot cannot be counted. 

Additionally, the PA Supreme Court just ruled that counties cannot count mail-in ballots that are undated or dated incorrectly.   Instead, they are to be segregated, probably waiting for the sure-to-come lawsuits after election day!

Action Steps

So, what will your county be doing?  Are there eyes in your county watching what is going on as election day draws nearer.  Perhaps you might want to give your county election office a call and ask them.

  • about the process they have in place to verify that mail-in ballots are from real voters
  • how they will segregate undated and incorrectly dated mail-in ballots
  • will your county drop boxes be monitored by cameras

The call will let your local county election office know that you know about the unverified mail-in ballots and, also, about the PA Supreme Court ruling.   Additionally, it will let them know that you are concerned about the ballot drop boxes.