Case regarding mail-in ballots in Washington County goes to court
WASHINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) - A battle over ballots played out in a local courtroom this week.
The Washington County Commissioners face a legal challenge after failing to give voters a chance to correct mistakes on mail-in ballots.
The commissioners claim they were following a court ruling that said undated or misdated ballots should not be counted in Pennsylvania.
However, the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging that.
"I think it's critical for democracy, I mean it's not only the right to vote it's the right to have your vote counted and here we have barriers that have been inserted for people voting by mail," said ACLU Pennsylvania Legal Director Vic Walczak.
According to reporting earlier this year from the Associated Press, the lawsuit filed in the county common pleas court said the policy resulted in 259 voters being disenfranchised and many of those voters still did not realize it.
"Because of the board's actions, voters had no way of learning that their ballot would not be counted, and were deprived of the opportunity to protect their right to vote by taking advantage of an existing statutory process: voting by provisional ballot," the lawsuit claimed.
Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi told KDKA that the board voted two-to-one on hiring a lawyer to fight the case.
So far, no decision has been made regarding this case.