Pa. Voters Decide Coalition Responds to GOP’s State Supreme Court Filing to End Counties’ Notice-and-Cure Policies

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania Voters Decide, a coalition of voting rights advocacy organizations, responded today to Wednesday’s legal filing by the Republican National Committee to stop counties in the commonwealth from informing voters of disqualifying errors with their mail ballots and offering them the chance to correct the mistake so that their ballot will be counted, a practice known as “notice-and-cure.” The case, RNC v. Schmidt, was filed at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the petitioners asked the court to use its “King’s Bench” authority, which empowers the justices to consider issues of public importance without going through the lower courts.

According to data provided by the coalition, more than half of the counties in Pennsylvania have some form of notice-and-cure. And voters correct their mistakes at a rate ranging from 40% to 60%, leading to the participation of tens of thousands of eligible voters whose ballots otherwise would have been disqualified.

The coalition’s response was joined by 51 organizations, which are listed below:

“Notice-and-cure is a pro-voter practice. It leads to the participation of tens of thousands of voters who otherwise would have lost their vote and their voice. Voters are human and make human mistakes, like forgetting the secrecy envelope or their signature or that day’s date. The counties that have this practice are doing what they can to help voters and make sure that they can participate in elections. And this isn’t new. For decades, counties have assisted absentee voters who had disqualifying errors with their ballots, giving them a chance to correct their mistakes so that their ballots will be counted.

“This lawsuit is a brazen, needless attempt to silence those voters. It’s needless because there’s no practical or logical reason to stop the counties from this practice. The only reason to file this lawsuit is to get a legal stamp of approval for the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of voters in Pennsylvania.

“Every Pennsylvanian who supports democracy and believes in the freedom to vote should see this case for what it is. And that’s voter suppression. Our hope is that the court upholds democracy and the rule of law and rejects this unconstitutional gambit to undercut free and fair elections.”

The following organizations signed the above statement:

All Voting is Local

CAIR- Pennsylvania

New Pennsylvania Project

Ceiba

New PA Project Education Fund

Action Together NEPA

In This Together NEPA

Make the Road PA

Better PA

Keystone Progress Education Fund

One PA

Center for Coalfield Justice

Protect Democracy

Pennsylvania Working Families Party

Philly Neighborhood Networks

Pennsylvania Policy Center

Pennsylvanians Together

Keystone Democracy

1Hood

Informing Democracy

Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance

Promote the Vote PA

ACLU of Pennsylvania

The Committee of Seventy

Red, Wine & Blue

Planned Parenthood Association of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania United

Conservation Voters of PA

EveryLibrary Institute

The League of Women Voters of PA

Advancement Project

POWER INTERFAITH

Pennsylvania Voice

RuralOrganizing.org

Casa San Jose

Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh (BCAP)

Positive Women's Network-USA

Mothers of Incarcerated Sons

PA Youth Vote

Voice of Westmoreland

People’s Action

Citizens for Better Elections

Disability Rights Pennsylvania

Asian Americans United

Pennsylvania Alliance Foundation

Campaign Legal Center

Brennan Center for Justice

Pennsylvania Stands Up

The Center for Popular Democracy Action

NextGen America

215 People's Alliance