Thousands of Pennsylvania ballots challenged in what state calls ‘bad-faith’ effort – Washington Examiner
A coordinated effort by right-wing activists has led to the challenge of at least 4,000 overseas ballots in Pennsylvania, just days before the election. The Pennsylvania Department of State has described these challenges as a “bad-faith” attempt to invalidate mail-in ballots submitted by voters who claim they have moved overseas or changed their addresses. However, U.S. law allows citizens living abroad to vote using the last state they resided in, regardless of their current residency status. Challenges have been reported in at least 14 counties, with the largest number—more than 1,300—occurring in Bucks County.
The activists behind the challenges are linked to groups like the Election Research Institute and PA Fair Elections, which have connections to individuals who have previously promoted election misinformation. While some counties have dismissed these challenges, others have not yet ruled on their validity. Legal experts assert that federal protections ensure the rights of these overseas voters to participate in federal elections, even if they aren’t registered in Pennsylvania.
Thousands of Pennsylvania ballots challenged in what state calls ‘bad-faith’ effort
At least 4,000 overseas ballots in multiple Pennsylvania counties have been challenged by what appears to be right-wing activists just days ahead of the election.
At least 14 counties have received challenges seeking to invalidate mail ballots, in which the challenges claim there is evidence showing voters had moved overseas or had submitted a change-of-address request with the U.S. Postal Service. Neither scenario necessarily makes a voter ineligible to cast a ballot in Pennsylvania as the law states that a citizen of the United States living overseas can use the last state they lived in as their voting state.
The commonwealth of Pennsylvania is calling this a “bad-faith” coordinated challenge.
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“Throughout the day on Friday, several bad-faith mass challenges were filed in a coordinated effort in counties across the Commonwealth to question the qualifications of thousands of registered Pennsylvania voters who applied to vote by mail ballot,” said Amy Gulli, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State.
“These challenges are based on theories that courts have repeatedly rejected,” Gulli continued.
The bulk of the new challenges are claiming that because the voter lives outside of the U.S. and is not technically eligible to register as a Pennsylvania voter, they should not be eligible to vote, according to LancasterOnline. The 1986 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, however, established that U.S. citizens and military personnel living overseas could continue to vote by absentee ballot in the state that they last lived in. They are known as “federal only” voters because these voters can participate only in federal races, such as the one for president, but not local races.
These challenges range from a dozen in Clinton County to more than 1,300 ballots in Bucks County. In Chester County, at least one county that has already held its hearing, the challenges were dismissed.
It’s unclear exactly who or what groups are behind all of the challenges, but some confirmed challengers point to right-wing activists being behind them. Challenge petitions reviewed by Votebeat and Spotlight PA, as well as information provided by county officials, show the challenges came from those associated with the Election Research Institute and PA Fair Elections.
These two groups are led by Heather Honey, a Pennsylvania researcher who has provided faulty information and contributed to election denialism since the 2020 election. PA Fair Elections has denied filing any change-of-address challenges or having any filed on its behalf, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Nevertheless, Diane Houser, who filed challenges in Chester County, confirmed at a hearing Friday that she was working with PA Fair Elections and the challenges were part of a “statewide effort.” Challenges in Delaware County were filed by Patricia Bleasdale, who has also attended PA Fair Elections meetings. Twenty-eight challenges were filed on Friday in Allegheny County by Charles Faltenovich, who is also associated with PA Fair Elections, according to a county spokesperson.
Marian Schneider, senior voting rights policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said federal law protects the rights of these citizens to participate in federal elections, even if they are not registered in Pennsylvania.
She said voters cannot register to vote, as they are not Pennsylvania residents, but UOCAVA gives overseas citizens the right to vote in the last state they lived in.
“It’s people who don’t understand the law or didn’t take time to research the law that are filing these challenges, just because they are not in the voter registration database,” Schneider told Votebeat. “These are misguided attempts to silence the voice of voters, and these challenges represent a misunderstanding of what their status is and what the law is.”
The ACLU sent a letter to all 67 Pennsylvania counties on Sunday notifying them that if they received these challenges, they were “legally deficient” and cautioned the counties against preventing overseas voters from casting ballots based on these challenges.
Judges dismissed similar challenges from the Republican National Committee to overseas voters in North Carolina and Michigan.
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