More than 500 Montgomery County mail-in ballots went uncounted in 2024 because voters never fixed correctable mistakes. A new county policy approved Thursday, Aug. 20, aims to change that for Whitemarsh, Plymouth, Whitpain and every other township's mail-in voters ahead of the November election.

The Montgomery County Board of Elections voted to automatically send replacement ballots to voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected for a missing signature, a missing secrecy envelope or ballot damage. The policy takes effect immediately for the Tuesday, Nov. 3 General Election. The vote count was not included in the county's announcement.

"Eligible voters should never be disenfranchised because of a correctable mistake on their ballot," Board of Elections Chair Neil K. Makhija said in a county statement announcing the change.

In 2024, the county recorded 1,186 deficient mail-in ballots. Of those, 516 went uncounted because voters did not resolve the issue and submit a corrected ballot. That's nearly 44% lost to fixable errors like forgetting a signature or leaving out the inner secrecy envelope, sometimes called a "naked ballot."

Under the previous system, election staff reviewed and categorized deficient ballots, then sent notifications through the state's SURE system. But reaching voters in time proved difficult. The new policy adds an automatic step: rather than waiting for voters to act on a notification, the county will mail a fresh replacement ballot for signature, envelope and damage problems.

One exception: voters flagged for identification verification issues will not receive an automatic replacement. Instead, they'll be notified to provide proper ID themselves.

Vice Chair Jamila Winder, who also chairs the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, said many rejected ballots stem from simple oversights. She said voters who miss a signature or forget a step "shouldn't be excluded from the democratic process."

Pennsylvania has no statewide standard for how counties handle deficient mail-in ballots. Each county sets its own notification process, making Montgomery County's automatic-replacement approach a local policy choice rather than a state mandate.

The Nov. 3 General Election has a voter registration deadline of Oct. 19 and a mail-in ballot request deadline of Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. Voters can track their ballot status at pavoterservices.pa.gov or call Montgomery County Voter Services at 610-278-3280.