Oct 24, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Pennsylvania court allows provisional ballot option if mail-in vote rejected

Rebecca Falconer

A man drops off a mail-in ballot on October 15, 2024 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. — A man drops off a mail-in ballot in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 15. Photo: Hannah Beier/Getty Images

Pennsylvania voters whose mail-in ballots have been rejected for certain procedural errors can cast provisional votes, the battleground state's highest court ruled Wednesday evening.

Why it matters: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision may affect thousands of mail-in votes that could be rejected in a state where the presidential election margins may be even closer than in 2020.

Context: The Republican National Committee and the state GOP had appealed a lower court's ruling siding with a lawsuit brought by two voters for whom Butler County refused to count their provisional ballots in the 2024 primary.

Driving the news: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that Butler County's Republican-majority election board must count the two ballots that arrived without mandatory secrecy envelopes, an error also referred to as the "naked ballot."

Justice Christine Donohue wrote in the majority ruling: "Absent any other disqualifying irregularities, the provisional ballots were to be counted if there were no other ballots attributable to the Electors. There were none."

Go deeper: Pennsylvania 2024 election may take days to call again

Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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Pennsylvania court allows provisional ballot option if mail-in vote rejected

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