Elections officials in Pennsylvania are being inundated with complaints from first-time and absentee voters having difficulty registering to vote or requesting a mail ballot, fueling anxiety in the critical swing state just as the 5 p.m. Monday deadline approaches to join the voting rolls in time for the November election.
College students in at least three counties in Pennsylvania who attempted to register to vote online had their applications rejected, and were notified that they must provide documentation in person or by mail to meet the Monday deadline, raising concerns among voting-rights advocates that an unknown number of students may not be able to register in time.
Meanwhile, other voters are receiving rejection notices for their absentee ballot requests without a clear explanation. County officials said the vast majority of these rejections were due to a technical problem: The voters had already requested a general-election ballot when they were applying to vote by mail for the primary election, so they didn’t need to request one again for the fall.