Group tries to block PA mail-in ballots using USPS data • Spotlight PA

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A group of citizens is challenging hundreds of mail-in ballots in southeastern Pennsylvania, claiming they were submitted by voters who moved to a new address that would prevent them from voting in the state.

The challengers, who apparently work as organized activists in multiple counties, claim that these voters are ineligible for a mail-in ballot because the address in the state’s ballot request file does not match an address associated with the voter’s name in a US Postal Service database. This method of cross-checking is regularly criticized by election experts as insufficient to confirm that the data refers to the same person.

The challenges filed with the counties allege that the voters are no longer Pennsylvania residents and therefore are not eligible voters and cannot receive a ballot by mail. The challenges apparently use data from the Postal Service’s National Change of Address Database showing that someone matching the voter’s name has filed a change of address for mail delivery.

Pennsylvania law requires that a person be a Pennsylvania resident to be eligible to vote, but does not require that the Pennsylvania address be the address where they receive mail.

A coalition of voting rights groups is opposing the challenges, calling them a “malicious attempt” to disenfranchise voters.

“We are deeply concerned about the validity and intent of these challenges, the intentional abuse of the election system, and the time and energy it will take our local election officials to address them,” said Susan Gobreski, president of the League of Female Voters. of Pennsylvania. “We will defend the freedom to vote for all Pennsylvanians.”

Under Pennsylvania law, mail-in ballot applications can be challenged until 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election — for a fee of $10 each — on the grounds that the applicant is not eligible to vote.

The challenges appear to be a coordinated effort. Broad and Liberty, a conservative news outlet based in Philadelphia, reported Monday that it had revised a list of the 865 challenges targeting voters registered in Bucks, Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties. Broad and Liberty did not name the group behind the effort and reported that the challenges are mainly targeting applications from Democratic voters.

Votebeat and Spotlight PA confirmed to Bucks County that their elections office had received 191 challenges from the same person on Friday. Spokesman Jim O’Malley said a hearing by the Board of Elections would have to take place to determine the validity of the challenges, and that the hearing had not yet been scheduled.

Chester County spokesperson Rebecca Brain said the county had received 212 challenges, all with the same standard wording, and that an election hearing was scheduled for Friday to review the challenges.

Megan Alt, a spokesperson for Montgomery County, said the county has not yet received any challenges but would address them if they arise. Jim Allen, Delaware County elections director, said someone recently came in with 140 forms, but when they were told they had to use the county affidavit, they took all 140 forms and left.

According to a petition reviewed by Votebeat and Spotlight PA, Diane Houser is the person filing the challenges in Chester County. Houser is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed this summer by a right-wing group called United Sovereign Americans challenging the maintenance of the state’s voter rolls.

Houser did not immediately call or email seeking comment.

Similar challenges in using USPS data may exist in other states as well. A lawsuit filed this month in Harris County, Texas, seeks to challenge thousands of registrations based at least in part on what the lawsuit describes as a “simple comparison” of the change of address data with the county’s voter rolls.

David Becker, executive director of the independent, nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research, said USPS change of address data by itself can be unreliable for determining voter eligibility because it does not include unique ID numbers for individuals, dates of birth or driver data. licensing information, and often does not distinguish between family members with the same or similar names, such as a senior and junior.

While election officials use this data for list maintenance, they use it in combination with other sources, such as driver’s license data, to increase confidence that they have the right person.

“No data scientist would ever consider linking a national change of address file to another file and saying with confidence that this is the same person,” Becker said. “And of course you certainly don’t want to say that if you are just before an election and someone could be deprived of their right to vote.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania warns them in a letter to all 67 counties that denying applications ineligibility based on the challenges is against the law, as the only requirement to receive a ballot is that someone has a ballot. registered voter. The ACLU maintains that the USPS data cannot be used to distinguish between an individual’s plan to relocate temporarily or permanently, and thus is insufficient by itself to prove that the voter is unqualified.

The letter also reminded counties that it is too late to remove voters from the voting rolls, as federal law prohibits systematic removals within 90 days of an election.

Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in association with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at [email protected].