NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County will postpone certification of its 2023 election results following a federal court ruling this week mandating the tabulation of mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates.
The postponement will give election officials time to canvass and count all the improperly dated ballots, officials said. In Montgomery County, a total of 349 ballots were impacted in this manner.
“In Montgomery County, we have consistently taken the position that the Election Code should be interpreted broadly in favor of voters’ rights,” Montgomery County Commissioner Ken Lawrence Jr. said in a statement. “All eligible voters should have their ballots counted. We will take the additional time needed to ensure that these ballots are included in the official results of the 2023 general election.”
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The federal court ruled that the missing or incorrect date is “unneccessary” information, and it was a violation of federal law that infringed on an individual’s right to vote. While the decision will have little to no impact on a 2023 election dominated by Democrats that saw no close state races, it could have significant import for the 2024 election, where small handfuls of votes in a swing state could determine the next president.
“The provision protects a citizen’s right to vote by forbidding a state actor from disqualifying a voter because of their failure to provide or error in providing some unnecessary information on a voting application or ballot,” Judge Susan Baxter wrote in her opinion.
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The election certification, which had been scheduled for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, will now begin with final canvassing on Monday, Nov. 27 at 10 a.m. at the Montgomery County Voters Services Warehouse in Norristown. Certification will take place five days after the final tabulation.
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