Common Cause of Pennsylvania urges voters in Lancaster County to check the status of their mail-in ballot after the county’s election office reported that 18,554 mail-in ballots with errors were sent to voters last week. 

“We understand that mistakes happen. In fact, that is the exact reason that we urged the Lancaster board of elections to allow voters to cure their ballots just last week,” said Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania. “We’ve only just begun to allow mail-in voting, so administrative errors like this are bound to happen and are not cause for major concern. Voters must be assured that their mail-in vote can still be counted.” 

Mail-in voters will receive replacement ballots from the county starting next week. Mail-in ballots must be returned to the county elections office by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is May 9. 

Last week, the Lancaster Board of Elections voted against a measure that would have allowed county voters to fix clerical mistakes on their mail-in ballots. Common Cause of Pennsylvania urges the Lancaster Board of Elections to reconsider their decision, and urges lawmakers in Harrisburg to consider standardizing statewide ballot curing policies.