HARRISBURG, Pa. — In suburban counties surrounding Philadelphia, election officials are being urged to dismiss mail-in ballot applications from hundreds of voters. This situation has drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania, who have described these challenges as mass-produced and unlawful.
The basis for these challenges is an alleged inconsistency with a database maintained by the U.S. Postal Service that tracks address changes. Diane Houser, an activist supportive of former President Donald Trump, is behind the filing of over 200 of these challenges in Chester County. She claims that these petitions are nonpartisan and arise from a grassroots initiative aimed at targeting the applications of voters who have relocated out of state.
However, the ACLU contends that such challenges violate legal standards, as voters can only be questioned based on their eligibility to register to vote. The organization highlighted that Friday marks the cutoff date for challenges, which must be substantiated with specific evidence indicating that a claimant is not entitled to vote.
The ACLU emphasizes the flawed logic behind these challenges, pointing out that a change-of-address form does not necessarily imply that someone has permanently moved out of state. Individuals may have temporarily updated their addresses for various reasons, such as attending school or serving in the military, and still retain their voting rights in Pennsylvania, as noted in a letter sent to the counties.
“There are many valid explanations for being listed in that database while still being eligible and registered to vote in Pennsylvania,” stated Witold Walczak, the ACLU’s legal director, during an interview.
These challenges are part of a broader array of legal battles concerning which mail-in ballots will be valid in a state anticipated to play a pivotal role in the upcoming presidential election.
The counties affected by these challenges so far are located in Philadelphia’s densely populated and predominantly Democratic suburbs, where voters expressed strong support for Democratic President Joe Biden over Trump in the 2020 election.
Currently, Bucks and Chester counties, which have received these challenges, are expected to address them at a public meeting through their three-member election boards.
According to the ACLU, declaring any of these voters as ineligible or rejecting their ballots solely based on these challenges would breach both federal and state laws.
Additionally, it has been reported that some individuals have received letters from a “friend in Pennsylvania” urging them to withdraw their voter registrations if they have actually moved out of state. Walczak pointed out that while voters from various political affiliations have faced challenges, the majority have targeted Democrats, as this group tends to utilize mail-in voting more frequently than Republicans.