County approves ballot curing policy
Less than two weeks before the primary, the county election board approved a ballot curing policy that gives voters an opportunity to correct problems with their mail-in and absentee ballots.
The board voted Tuesday, May 2, to adopt the policy that allows voters who didn’t sign or date their ballots to correct those issues.
When the county election bureau receives a ballot on which the voter’s signature or date is missing from the return envelope, staff will look through voting records to find a way to contact the voter, said Chantell McCurdy, election bureau director.
The voter will be contacted by phone or email, McCurdy said.
The phone call would come from the voter’s political party and the email would come from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
McCurdy said the bureau is asking the parties to agree to make those calls, and the Department of State has email addresses of voters who have provided that information to the department.
Voters who are notified about either ballot issue will have two options, she said.
They can go to the bureau’s office by 8 p.m. on primary day or Election Day to sign or date their ballots, or they can go to their polling place and vote using a provisional ballot, she said.
McCurdy said the policy will be posted on the county website, and voters can call the bureau at 724-284-5308 with questions.
