Provisional Ballots Must Have Signature To Count, Pennsylvania High Court Rules [View all]

Provisional ballots cast in Pennsylvania elections without a required signature will not be counted, the state’s highest court ruled Friday.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the state constitution does not protect a voter’s right to have their partially executed provisional ballot counted, and that state law is clear on the requirements for counting such ballots.

At issue was whether the failure of a voter to sign the outside envelope of their provisional ballot should be counted. The opinion cites Pennsylvania election code which states that a provisional ballot “shall not be counted” if either the provisional ballot envelope or affidavit are not signed by the individual.

Under the law, a county election board must compare the signature on the outer envelope to the signature on the voter’s registration form to assess whether it is valid and executed by the same person who signed the affidavit.



https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/pennsylvania-supreme-court-to-review-key-provisional-ballots-in-tight-gop-primary/