New research conducted on mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania
CARLISLE, Pa. (WHTM) — More than 700,000 voters in Pennsylvania have returned their mail-in ballots ahead of the state’s local elections.
Of the more than one million ballots mailed, nearly three-quarters were requested by voters registered as Democrats. Many Republican voters don’t trust mail-in ballots.
“Even without evidence of widespread fraud, there are still misunderstandings and sometimes even outright conspiracy theories about what is happening in all 67 counties,” said Ari Mittleman of KeepingOurRepublic.org, a nonpartisan group focused on combating misinformation.
“There is no scheme that gives Democrats an advantage through mail-in voting.”
Sarah Niebler, who teaches at Dickinson College, recently studied mail-in ballots from the spring primaries, particularly rejection rates by political party.
“There are no partisan differences at either the individual or district level,” she said.
Niebler’s research found that during the 2023 spring primary, 1.94% of mail-in ballots requested by Democrats were rejected because they were either incorrectly dated, arrived late or had another problem.
In the same election, 2.01% of ballots requested by Republicans were rejected, or 0.07% more.
Almost half of the rejected ballots arrived late; Each ballot must be returned by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Another 30% were thrown out because they had an incorrect date or no date.
Adam Mast, a student at Dickinson College, contacted all 67 counties and collected information for the study. He learned what many in Pennsylvania preach: There really are no statewide elections.
“It’s actually 67 smaller elections … run by different people who work differently, who have different systems.”
Mast added that many county websites are outdated and outdated, particularly those of smaller counties.
The researchers say mail-in ballots are here to stay, even though every county is different.
“It’s a safe and convenient way to do what we all should do as Americans celebrate, and what many people around the world can’t do, which is cast a vote,” Mittleman said.
