Pennsylvania is a must-win state for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It is also ground zero for litigation over election rules and skeptics who still question the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election results.
That mix has state officials, campaigns and voters bracing for a charged and potentially lengthy battle over who is crowned the winner in the Keystone State.
The state has made some attempts to improve a mail-in balloting process that was beset by delays and controversy four years ago. Trump demonized mail-in votes as the counting of those ballots cemented his Pennsylvania loss to Joe Biden by about 80,000 votes, out of nearly seven million cast. He later filed a series of unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the outcome. Election workers reported threats and harassment, which have persisted in the years since. Skeptics in the state legislature continue to decry the results.
Trump, meanwhile, continues to make unsupported election-fraud claims, including at a recent appearance in Erie, Pa. “They cheat in this state, especially in Philadelphia,” he said at a Sept. 29 rally there.
Both parties are focused on filling the state with operatives and volunteers—and planning for anything and everything they fear could go wrong.
“We’re running what many view to be the most critical election in our lifetime, although we are also very tired of that framing,” said Kyle Miller, Pennsylvania policy strategist at the nonprofit group Protect Democracy….
This year’s ballots come with clearer instructions on dating and signing, and include return envelopes preprinted with the year in large, bold numbers.
Under state law, every county has some discretion to handle mail-in ballots and errors as they see fit, which at times has created confusion and consternation.
In some counties, voters are notified if the elections department spots an error on the outside of their return envelopes and might be offered a chance to fix the problem with a replacement mail-in ballot before Election Day. In others, the errors aren’t documented, so voters are never notified and might be unaware of the problem.
The state Supreme Court on Saturday said it would consider whether such notification is required.
Separately, the court turned away an appeal from Republican lawyers challenging the patchwork of county policies on fixing ballots, on the grounds that it was filed too close to the election. The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania GOP had argued that the rules must be consistent—with no room for counties to allow voters to make changes.
The court also declined to take up an appeal from voting-rights groups that sought to require counties to count ballots that weren’t dated by voters.