Philly voters queue at City Hall to correct mail-in ballots
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The line at City Hall is gone on Monday night as it closed at 5 p.m. Voters who spoke to CBS3 Monday were openly frustrated and annoyed to discover their ballots need to be fixed due to minor omissions.
Many were senior citizens who mailed their ballots weeks ago.
87-year-old Ed Keenan has only missed two elections in his 60 years of voting, but a seemingly minuscule mistake almost cost him his vote in this year's midterm election.
"I was also doing my bills and I forgot to put the ballot in the blue envelope," Keenan, a voter from Fairmount, said.
A day before Election Day, a line was overflowing from the doors of City Hall, filled with people who found their names on a list of nearly 2,000 Philadelphia voters. Their early ballots were rejected because they either submitted them unsigned, undated or in the wrong envelope.
"That's redundant. They're asking me to put them in two envelopes," Keenan said. "It's going to the same place, got my name on it. Now, someone's calling saying it's not going to be counted."
This month the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania sided with the Republican National Committee upholding the law that says election officials should not count votes that aren't properly signed and dated.
"Handwritten dates are not material and lack of such a date should not be a reason to disenfranchise a voter," Commissioner Lisa Deeley said.
The city estimates 3,800 mail-in ballots are at risk, potentially enough to swing tightly competitive Senate and governor races in a battleground state like Pennsylvania.
"It's just unbelievable that so many people are not familiar with filling out this ballot that hasn't changed," Debbie Johnson, a voter, said.
But with election-defining issues up and down the ballot, like abortion rights, inflation, and social security, voters say they're doubling down to preserve democracy.
"There's no reason you invalidate someone's ballot," Margrete Lenzi, a designated agent, said. "You know, some people in one party are making it difficult for people to vote and it's not right."
A designated agent can submit a paper application for a mail-in or absentee ballot, obtain your mail-in or absentee ballot in person and return your voted mail-in or absentee ballot.
You can find a link to the lists of ballots in question on our website.
If your name is on any of those lists you can come to City Hall, room 140, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to deal with any discrepancies.