Berks delays election certification following federal ruling

A federal court ruling directing counties to accept mail ballots without accurate dates on their exterior envelopes has delayed the certification of the 2023 general election results in Berks County.

Election officials had planned to certify its results Monday during a special meeting but instead voted unanimously to halt the process following the decision last week from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Judge Susan Paradise Baxter ruled that county boards of election may no longer reject mail ballots that lack accurate, handwritten dates on their return envelopes. She said the date — which is required by state law — is irrelevant in helping elections officials decide whether the ballot was received in time or whether the voter is qualified to cast a ballot.

There were 432 ballots in Berks County impacted by the ruling, according to Assistant Elections Director Stephanie Weaver.

Disputes over whether to count ballots that were not dated or incorrectly dated in Pennsylvania have been working their way through the courts since the state passed a law in 2019 expanding the use of mail voting.

In this latest lawsuit, Baxter sided with several Pennsylvania groups represented by the American Civil Liberties Union who argued throwing out these ballots disenfranchises voters and violates provisions of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964.

During the special meeting Monday, First Assistant County Solicitor Cody Kauffman recommended that election officials pause the certification process until the county can count the 302 undated and 130 incorrectly dated ballots it received. He said the county would be at risk of violating the federal order if those ballots are not included in the final tally of results.

“Unfortunately, it puts the board in the untenable position of not being able to meet the statutory deadline for certification or be in violation of the order,” he said. “I do know other counties have delayed certification and are planning to count these ballots.”

Kauffman said it’s possible an appeal to the ruling will be filed in the next few days, which could lead to a temporary stop of the order. But, as the order stands at this moment, the county must comply with the ruling.

The election board members agreed, noting they are following the guidance of its legal team in making the decision to count those ballots that were not accurately dated.

Weaver said tabulation efforts are expected to begin Tuesday.

Once the ballots are counted, the results will be updated and a five-day review period will begin Wednesday. Write-in candidates who previously filed petitions to cumulate will be allowed to amend their submitted petitions to include any additional perceived votes.

All results are considered unofficial until the county election board convenes to certify them.