Mayor Jim Kenney among hundreds of Pa. voters who need to "cure" mail ballots
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia elections officials are urging voters who voted by mail to check if their name appears on four lists published Friday showing mail-in ballots with issues.
Over 1,000 mail ballots sent to the Philadelphia Board of Elections had issues including no signature, no date, a potentially incorrect date (such as a birthdate) or no secrecy envelope (also known as a "naked ballot").
One of those ballots belonged to Mayor Jim Kenney, the lists show.
A spokesperson confirmed Kenney has since "followed the appropriate steps noted here to address the issue," providing this link to the Philadelphia City Commissioners' website.
ALSO SEE: Nov. 7 election guide for Pa., N.J.
Here are those lists of Philadelphia mail-in ballots that may have errors, for your convenience:
No signature: (pdf) or (xlsx)
No date: (pdf) or (xlsx)
Potentially incorrect date: (pdf) or (xlsx)
Not enclosed in a Secrecy Envelope (a.k.a. Naked Ballots): (pdf) or (xlsx)
Those voters should visit the Philadelphia County Board of Elections in City Hall Room 140 to request a replacement ballot.
You can do so until 3 p.m. Saturday, again on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Monday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or on Election Day 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
How do I know if there is an issue with my mail-in ballot in Pa.?
The process for notifying voters of issues with their ballots varies by county, according to Common Cause Pennsylvania.
Some counties, as Philadelphia has done, publish lists of names. Delaware County says it is attempting to contact voters whose mail-in ballots have issues - and you may want to check your email inbox's spam folder. If the county can't reach you via email or phone, they may be sending you something in the mail.
Delaware County has a little under 600 ballots that need to be cured, Director of Election Operations Jim Allen said in an email.
That represents about 2% of the total of 27,300 mail ballots the county had received.
Montgomery County is also reaching out to voters who had problems with their mail-in ballots, Director of Voter Services Dori Sawyer told CBS News Philadelphia's Kim Hudson this week. Hundreds of ballots in the county were returned with deficiencies like missing signatures or dates, Sawyer said.
Voters in Chester County have until 4:30 p.m. Monday to correct any deficiency with their ballots. The county is attempting to contact voters via email or letter and is also providing a daily list to both the Democratic and Republican parties. A county spokesperson told CBS News Philadelphia that they can only find errors on the outside of the envelopes.
Pennsylvania's Department of State has a mail-in ballot tracker (linked here) that can show if your ballot has been received by your county elections office. If you see that your ballot shows as "canceled," there may be an issue, Allen said.
You should contact your county elections office directly if you believe there is an issue with your mail-in ballot or if it's showing as canceled. They may allow you to fix the issue, send you a new ballot, or if it's too close to Election Day, they may advise you to vote in person on Election Day via provisional ballot.
How do I know if there is an issue with my mail-in ballot in N.J.?
Under New Jersey state law, voters must be notified within 24 hours and be sent a "cure form" if elections officials decide to reject their ballot for a missing or incorrect signature.
Voters have until 5 p.m. on the ninth day after the election to return that cure form and ensure their mail-in ballot can be counted.
What is a naked ballot?
"Naked ballots" were a concern in the 2020 presidential election as Joe Biden faced off against incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that ballots not enclosed in the inner secrecy envelope could not be counted, prompting city officials to sound the alarm.
Election officials say you should first place your voted mail ballot in the yellow security envelope.
Then, place that yellow envelope in the larger envelope with the signature and date fields. Make sure you sign this outer envelope and put the date you are voting on it. (Don't put your birthday or another date as it may cause an issue.)
In the video below, Sawyer shows our Kim Hudson you what you need to do with your mail-in ballot before you mail it or put it in a drop box:
