Montgomery County will automatically send replacement ballots to Lower Merion mail-in voters whose ballots are rejected for common errors ahead of the Nov. 3 General Election.
The Montgomery County Election Board authorized the updated ballot curing policy, Main Line Media News reported. Under the new process, when a mail-in ballot is rejected for a missing signature, missing secrecy envelope or wrong date on the outer envelope, the county will cancel the defective ballot and mail a replacement the next day. Voters with an email address on file will also receive an alert explaining the issue.
Election Board Chair Neil Makhija, a Democrat, said 516 mail-in ballots were designated non-cured out of roughly 1,186 deficient ballots cast countywide in 2024.
"It turns out a very effective means to ensure that we reduce the number of deficient ballots is simply automatically canceling and replacing the ballots and sending new ballots out to anyone who had an error," Makhija said.
The automatic replacement process runs until Friday, Oct. 30. After that cutoff, voters with deficient ballots must appear in person in Norristown by Monday, Nov. 2, to cancel and replace their ballot. They can also vote by provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day.
Republican Commissioner Tom DiBello acknowledged the curing process is mandatory under state law but raised concerns about the cost. He said voters bear some responsibility for completing mail-in ballots correctly.
Deputy Chief Operating Officer Mira Baylson said defective ballots will be marked in the Pennsylvania Department of State's SURE election database, flagged with a red symbol and locked in a secure cabinet. The policy update was posted on the county's voter services website and sent to both party committees.
The policy follows a September 2025 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that required counties to notify voters of mail-in ballot errors, according to Makhija. He said the automatic curing approach originated in Dauphin County.
Key deadlines for Lower Merion voters
- Voter registration: Oct. 19
- Mail-in or absentee ballot request: 5 p.m. Oct. 27
- Ballot return: 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Postmarks do not count, according to WHYY's voter guide.
Voters can find registration information, polling locations and drop-box sites at the county's voter services website.
