The Pennsylvania Democratic Party filed suit against Erie County on Wednesday, arguing that many voters have not received mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day.
In its lawsuit, the party said that “10,000 to 20,000 voters who requested mail-in ballots have not received or submitted such ballots,” and that the return rate for such ballots in Erie County was 15 percentage points below the state average. The party also said that 552 voters in the county had contacted a hotline set up by the party “because they either received an incorrect mail-in ballot or have yet to receive any mail-in ballot whatsoever.”
Neither the county board of elections nor the Erie County Republican Party immediately replied to requests for comment.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Erie County Board of Elections said it was “acutely aware that many voters in Erie County have not received their requested mail ballots.”
“The board has been working diligently with the Voter Registration Department, the Pennsylvania Department of State and the United States Post Office to determine the origin and scope of this matter,” the board said.
As a result, the board extended the operating hours of the voter registration and election departments. It also said residents who had applied for a mail-in ballot but not received one could obtain one at the county election office through Monday.
Pennsylvania has been one of the most closely watched and contested swing states as the election nears its conclusion. Erie County sits on Lake Erie, in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, between Buffalo and Cleveland. There have been local media reports of problems with mail-in ballots: Among other things, roughly 300 voters were mailed duplicate ballots, a problem the county has attributed to a contractor.
During an Oct. 24 public meeting of the Board of Elections, Sam Talarico, the head of the local Democratic Party, said his “only concern is about people who have not received their mail-in ballots yet. I’m one of them.”
In an interview on Wednesday, he said he had finally received his ballot on Monday and returned it the next day.
“I’m a little bit concerned, but I do know the county is doing everything they can to rectify the situation,” he said.
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