NORRISTOWN — Montgomery County recorded 353 deficient mail-in ballots ahead of the 2024 general election, according to Montgomery County Commissioners’ Vice Chairman Neil Makhija.
Makhija addressed the ballot deficiencies during his opening comments at the October 24 board meeting, noting that Montgomery County has “probably the lowest ratio of ballots with errors we’ve had in a long time.”
Montgomery County voter services offers status report ahead of election
Some examples of deficiencies included forgetting a secrecy envelope, as well as misdated or undated ballots, he said. In addition to providing the information to the county’s political parties, the list was posted online earlier this week.
“If you are a voter who’s made an error, you should be hearing from people, and you will hear directly from the county as well either by mail and if we have your phone, email we’ll use those,” Makhija said.
“If it’s a deficient ballot, we just need a cancel and replace form from you, and within 24 hours of receiving the form a new ballot will be mailed to you,” said Interim Voter Services Director Frank Dean.
Anyone impacted should request a “cancel/replace” form electronically by Friday, Nov. 1 and in-person by Monday, Nov. 4, according to the county’s voter services website.
The list of names, birth years, municipalities, precincts, and zip codes was made available on the Montgomery County Office of Voter Services website. Deficiency classifications included damaged, invalid or incorrect date, naked ballot, and unsigned or undated declaration.
“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court just decided yesterday that if you are one of these voters that has made an error, you can still show up on Election Day, and cast a provisional ballot,” Makhija said.
Montgomery County Commissioner Tom DiBello took issue with publicly identifying voters by putting information online and expressed security concerns.
“I think we should make sure we put a public service message out there, which I don’t agree with this with us putting names on our county website. Unbelievably, there may be unscrupulous people out there that will go knocking on somebody’s door,” DiBello said, sharing an instance he’d heard involving an elderly woman, but the situation hadn’t yet been verified.
“These are the times we live in. People find any opportunity to take advantage of others quickly,” he said.
Dean underscored that “Montgomery County Voter Services is not coming door-to-door. So if someone is appearing at your door asking to see your ID or your ballot, do not give it to them. Please call our office and let us know right away.”
Dean added that anyone with a deficient ballot should instead “deal directly with voter services.”
County officials stressed the importance of combating instances of misinformation amid the highly contentious presidential election. “We get a lot of incoming in terms of what people are hearing and experiencing and we’re doing a proactive job of trying to debunk what’s real and what’s fake,” said Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Jamila Winder, adding that additional information is being made available through the county’s digital platforms.
“We’re trying to keep a running list of issues that people are raising and how do we proactively as a county bring truth to light, and I appreciate the team that’s been working on that,” she said.
Dean noted that “myth-busting one-pages” and voter information guides in multiple languages are available at montcovotes.com. He encouraged people to be patient as the county’s voter service office has been inundated with election-related inquiries leading up to Election Day, experiencing some 3,000 calls per day.
“I think there are groups that are trying to be helpful, and it is helpful to the extent that you’re not able to reach everyone who has a deficient ballot … but the best practice is to know that they can go to montcovotes.com, they can check the status of their ballot on there, they can even look at the public list to see if it’s deficient and follow the instructions,” Makhija said.
Sealed envelopes
With respect to damaged mail-in ballots, DiBello noted increasing calls related to people receiving sealed mail-in ballots, but Dean acknowledged those queries have slowed down.
“Voters who do receive a sealed ballot envelope can open it, can place their ballot inside the secrecy envelope and then tape it or inside the return envelope and tape it,” Dean said.
DiBello also shared he’s heard from constituents about reservations surrounding partisanship but he and other county officials sought to squash any concerns.
“People think that the sealed envelopes are more or less party specific,” DiBello said. “So I think we want to make sure … everyone knows that it’s not party specific, it’s just by coincidence this has been happening.”
“We had a very wet and humid September. We got our ballots out while we were still enjoying the heat of the summer and that kind of humidity causes ballots to arrive sealed. It happens every election,” Dean said.
“That would be some weather if it was targeting envelopes for Democrats or Republicans,” Winder said.
The deadline to request a mail-in ballot was Tuesday, Oct. 29. There are eight satellite offices situated across Montgomery County offering extended hours through Monday, Oct. 28. The offices will be open from 4:30-8:30 p.m. Monday and Friday as well as 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday in Lansdale, Pottstown and Willow Grove, as well as Abington, Franconia, Lower Merion, Upper Dublin, and Whitemarsh townships.
Visit montcovotes.com for more information related to the 2024 general election in Montgomery County.
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