A judge's order would apply to at least 14,000 in the crucial swing county of Erie, Pennsylvania, who say they never got their requested mail-in ballots, in a move hailed by both major parties.
At least 14,000 or more voters in Erie County, Pennsylvania, who wanted to submit mail-in ballots will be allowed to vote in person before Election Day after officials were unable to verify whether they ever received the ones they requested, according to an order from Erie County Judge David Ridge on Friday.
The affected Erie County voters who could have mailed in or dropped off their ballots in a designated box now face the prospect of long lines with significant wait times, because they will have to have their previous mail-in ballot requests canceled to cast new ones.
The challenges are even steeper for those who were counting on being able to vote by mail because they are unable to go to the courthouse, either because they are out of town or incapacitated. The affected voters have little time left before Tuesday's Election Day, when all mail-in ballots must be received by 8 p.m., and the county is also running out of paper ballots and envelopes.
Still, both major parties are hailing the judge's decision. On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against the Erie County Board of Elections, alleging multiple errors by the third-party vendor responsible for printing and sending mail-in ballots, which resulted in thousands not receiving the ballots requested. The court-ordered remedies were negotiated with bipartisan support after the state Republican Party formally joined the suit on Thursday.
The Democrats' attorney, Timothy McNair, said in a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday that he did not blame problems on the county's elections department, which "acted in nothing but the utmost good faith throughout, and has been working around the clock to try to recover" from the vendor's failures. McNair added that attorneys for the state and national Republican Party "were also cooperative throughout and worked toward the same goal as us with no rancor."
Logistical problems are not uncommon during elections, but with the outcome predicted to be decided by razor-thin margins in Pennsylvania, losing even a small number of voters as a result of these errors could make a difference in who wins the state. Erie County is also a bellwether being closely watched, after it went in turn for Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
The Trump campaign has also sought to cast doubt among voters about election integrity, and as some Erie County residents waited for their mail-in ballots, they worried the delay was more than just a mistake.
Responding to swirling conspiracy theories, the Pennsylvania Republican Party's general counsel Tom King said: "The problems in Erie were a result of significant failures by the vendor and the inability of the County Election Bureau to do anything about it without Court intervention."
King added that the order would help the many Trump supporters who have opted for mail-in ballots this year. "I think it's a good thing for democracy and a good thing for the process and it's a victory for us," King said.
Court records show the county was unable to determine the delivery status of between 13,000 and 17,000 requested mail-in ballots. Another 1,200 Erie voters who temporarily reside outside the state also may not have received their ballots, according to the judge's order, and at least 365 voters received duplicate ballots with bar codes belonging to another voter.
The judge's order also extends the election office's hours of operation to include the weekend to facilitate those who want to cast ballots. The court also ordered the Erie County Board of Elections to add another printer immediately to help reduce wait times. The elections board will also overnight ballots to temporarily out-of-state voters.
Such a remedy "could cause confusion for voters and raises mobility issues for folks voting by mail because they can't travel to a polling location," noted Daniel Mallinson, a professor at Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg. "But it's also so close to the election that this is likely the best way to make sure their votes are cast in time."
The county did not respond to requests for comment. The vendor, Ohio-based ElectionIQ, also did not respond to The Post.
Pamela Tilley, a 67-year-old Erie County resident, said she received an email from [email protected] on Oct. 9 stating that her ballot was being prepared and would be sent soon. But she then received another email from the Pennsylvania Department of State on Oct. 16, informing her that her ballot had been mailed "7 days ago." Her ballot never arrived, she said.
"It's never been a problem," said Tilley, who voted by mail in previous elections. "To this day even, I have not received it."
Tilley, a registered Democrat, said she contacted state and local officials and even attempted to contact ElectionIQ after seeing it named in a local news report. She and her husband, Al, drove to the Erie County courthouse on Oct. 25, hoping to cancel their requested ballots and obtain new ones to fill out on the spot.
Tilley and her husband, who is being treated for cancer, waited in line for more than an hour before giving up and going home. Videos and photographs taken this week showed lines snaking through the building.
Pennsylvania does not have traditional early-voting days, but voters can request a mail ballot in person and then fill it out on the spot. Such "on-demand" mail-ballot voting, however, is a labor-intensive process that takes more time than other methods of voting. This process has resulted in long lines across the state as more voters have opted to vote early in person this election.
Tilley said she went back to the courthouse alone on the last day of on-demand voting and waited in line for more than four hours before election officials let her cancel her undelivered ballot and cast a new one. She said her husband voted the next day after the county extended the deadline for those who had not received requested mail-in ballots.