A Pennsylvania vote-by-mail ballot envelope (Capital-Star photo by Peter Hall)
The Chester County board of elections unanimously decided to deny more than 200 rejections to mostly-Democratic mail-in ballot applications at a Friday hearing. Several voters whose mail ballot applications were called into question testified at the hearing, as well as voting rights advocates urging the county to throw out the challenges.
“Voters pick their leaders. Leaders don’t pick their voters,” Amy Widestrom, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and a member of a coalition pushing back on the challenges, said. “What we saw presented today was an argument full of misunderstanding of the law and a total lack of evidence. We call on all Pennsylvanians to stand together against these apparent voter suppression tactics.”
The challenges were brought by individuals suspected to be working with a network of right-wing advocates who filed similar challenges in other counties like Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware. According to the conservative outlet Broad and Liberty, altogether, over 800 mail ballot applications, most of which came from registered Democrats.
Broad and Liberty, which appeared to grant the challengers anonymity, explained their methodology for finding voters they alleged had moved and were ineligible to vote. They said they compared U.S. Postal Service data against state voter data to find instances where voters’ addresses didn’t match.
But experts have long criticized that specific methodology. Not only does Pennsylvania law not require voters to receive mail at their residence, but many Americans move temporarily or permanently without alerting the post office, for reasons such as work, school or military service.
One voter who had her application challenged appeared at the Chester County Board of Elections hearing to push back on the challenges.
“I feel obligated to speak out against unsubstantiated allegations by a ‘concerned’ citizen who does not know me,”said Ana Harley, the spouse of an active duty military member.
More challenges may be heard in other counties before the election.
Jim O’Malley, a Bucks County spokesperson, said a board of election hearing would happen soon, but was not scheduled as of Oct. 31.
Votebeat, an outlet dedicated to covering voting rights and election issues, reported a spokesperson for Delaware County told them a challenger brought froward 140 challenges to mail ballot applications, but balked before formally submitting them when asked to sign an affidavit. Votebeat also reported a Montgomery County spokesperson said no challenges had been received as of Oct. 30.