{"id":2347,"date":"2026-02-06T11:38:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/pennsylvania\/?post_type=press&p=2347"},"modified":"2026-02-06T11:38:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:38:31","slug":"new-report-how-simple-fixes-can-protect-every-pa-ballot","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/pennsylvania\/press\/new-report-how-simple-fixes-can-protect-every-pa-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"New Report: How Simple Fixes Can Protect Every PA Ballot"},"template":"","class_list":["post-2347","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"A new report from Common Cause Pennsylvania and the ACLU of Pennsylvania finds that pro-voter notice and cure policies are significantly more effective in helping voters successfully vote by mail than simply relying on the availability of provisional ballots. ","featured_image":"","press_type":146,"authors":"","related_issues":[109,108,471],"related_work":[492,230,231],"location":41},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":true,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7755}"],"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"A\u00a0new report<\/a> from Common Cause Pennsylvania and\u00a0the\u00a0ACLU\u00a0of\u00a0Pennsylvania\u00a0finds that pro-voter\u00a0notice\u00a0and cure policies are significantly more effective in helping voters successfully vote by mail\u00a0than simply relying on the availability of provisional ballots.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nPennsylvania county boards of elections may adopt policies to allow voters to \u201ccure\u201d mistakes such as missing signatures or missing security envelopes in their mail-in ballot return packets.\u00a0Counties that are more proactive about notifying voters of mistakes and offering curing opportunities have much higher mail-in ballot acceptance rates than counties that don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWhile a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision requires county boards of elections to notify voters if their mail-in ballot is rejected,\u00a0there\u00a0still is no uniform process for notifying voters or resolving the issues that led to rejection. This new report clearly shows that certain fixes have higher success rates than others.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor example, Allegheny County, which automatically returns rejected ballots with instructions on how to cure, saw a 70 percent cure rate. In comparison,\u00a0Berks County, which only notifies voters through the online mail-in ballot tracking\u00a0system,\u00a0saw a 22 percent cure rate.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cEvery voter has a constitutional right to have their voice heard and that right shouldn\u2019t be taken away because of administrative challenges\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said Philip Hensley-Robin, Executive Director of Common Cause Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u201cBut because of our current patchwork of ballot curing policies, whether\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0easy to correct an error and make sure your ballot counts or\u00a0nearly impossible\u00a0to do so depends on the county you live in. Our report has the solutions; policies which make sure ballots are cured and Pennsylvanians are heard. We plan to travel the state and make our case to county officials and make it easy and convenient for voters to ensure their ballots count.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n\"Expanded mail-in voting opened the door for more Pennsylvanians to participate in our democracy,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Kate\u00a0Steiker-Ginzberg, Voting Rights Fellowship Attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania<\/span><\/b>. \u201cBut to truly fulfill this promise,\u202fwe must address the gaps that prevent eligible votes from being counted. Counties have a responsibility to support voters and ensure that no one is denied their right to vote because of minor paperwork mistakes.\u202fOur new report with Common Cause provides a clear evaluation of the most effective notice and cure programs across\u00a0the\u00a0state,\u00a0and we encourage all counties to adopt policies that protect Pennsylvania voters and strengthen confidence in our elections.\"<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe report dives into the\u00a0policies counties use to notify voters and resolve issues, as well as their varying ballot curing success rates. Counties that automatically return flawed ballots to voters or automatically cancel and reissue mail ballots have the highest rate of ballot acceptance. Meanwhile, counties that rely solely on voters\u00a0checking\u00a0the Department of State\u2019s ballot tracker website have the worst rates of ballot acceptance. The report also addresses how some counties are not in compliance with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling requiring them to notify voters of cancelled ballots before Election Day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nBoth Common Cause Pennsylvania and ACLU-PA plan to contact and attend boards of elections meetings to advocate for policies that help voters cure ballots.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nTo view the report, click here.\u00a0<\/span><\/a>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nNew Report: How Simple Fixes Can Protect Every PA Ballot - Common Cause Pennsylvania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new report from Common Cause Pennsylvania and the ACLU of Pennsylvania finds that pro-voter notice and cure policies are significantly more effective in helping voters successfully vote by mail than simply relying on the availability of provisional ballots.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/pennsylvania\/press\/new-report-how-simple-fixes-can-protect-every-pa-ballot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Report: How Simple Fixes Can Protect Every PA Ballot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new report from Common Cause Pennsylvania and the ACLU of Pennsylvania finds that pro-voter notice and cure policies are significantly more effective in helping voters successfully vote by mail than simply relying on the availability of provisional ballots.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/pennsylvania\/press\/new-report-how-simple-fixes-can-protect-every-pa-ballot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Pennsylvania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/pennsylvania\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-138711477-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2346\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/pennsylvania\/press\/new-report-how-simple-fixes-can-protect-every-pa-ballot\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/pennsylvania\/press\/new-report-how-simple-fixes-can-protect-every-pa-ballot\/\",\"name\":\"New Report: How Simple Fixes Can Protect Every PA Ballot - 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