PERRY COUNTY, Pa. — The Perry County Board of Elections on Tuesday successfully petitioned the county's Court of Common Pleas to allow disabled voters who may have incorrectly filled out mail-in or absentee ballots to have a designated agent obtain and return provisional ballots for them.
Judge Kenneth A. Mummah ruled that the Board of Elections is authorized to issue a provisional ballot to any registered voter of Perry County who notifies the Election Office that as a result of their disability, they are unable to physically travel to a polling place to complete the provisional ballot in-person.
The affected voter can fill out a Department of State form that designates an agent to obtain and return a ballot for them, Mummah ruled. The provisional ballot must be returned to the Perry County Election Office by 8 p.m. Tuesday, the ruling added.
Election officials filed the petition on Nov. 4, citing a Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruling in October concerning whether a person who incorrectly completed an absentee or mail-in ballot had the right to vote by provisional ballot at the polling place on Election Day.
In the case, the Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's decision that stated "the county board of elections...shall count the (provisional) ballot," the petition said.
On Oct. 28, the Board said in its petition, that it received a letter from Disability Rights Pennsylvania, which was concerned that some voters might not be physically able to travel to their polling place on Election Day to obtain a provisional ballot. The letter recommended allowing a Department of State designated agent to obtain and return a provisional ballot for the voter as a possible solution.
The Board said the Department of State on Oct. 24 issued a revised directive regarding provisional ballots, stating in part that the provisional ballots could be obtained "by special court order," prompting its petition to Perry County's Court of Common Pleas.
