Lawsuit settlement clears way for Nick Miller to be certified winner of 14th District senate Democratic primary
Lehigh, Northampton counties agree to help voters comply with mail-in ballot requirements
Nine voters in Pennsylvania’s 14th Senate District reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit over mail-in ballots, clearing the way for Allentown School Board member Nick Miller to be certified as the winner in the Democratic primary, according to Allentown attorney Matt Mobilio.
Under the settlement, Lehigh and Northampton counties agreed, among other measures, to alert voters directly or via party representatives if they fail to place their mail-in ballots in secrecy envelopes, Mobilio said Wednesday in a press release.
The voters would then have the option of voting with provisional ballots at their polling places, Mobilio explained in a subsequent email.
“Today we secured a huge victory for the voters of Lehigh and Northampton County,” Mobilio said.
Mobilio represented nine plaintiffs who were among 260 voters from the 14th Senate District whose mail-in ballots were rejected because they lacked secrecy envelopes or arrived after the 8 p.m. May 17 deadline.
The plaintiffs asked the U.S. Eastern District Court to halt the vote tabulation in the14th until their civil rights case could be heard and their votes added to the tally. The counties agreed to hold off on certifying the results.
That left the 14th, which does not have an incumbent due to mandated redistricting, as the last unresolved race from the May 17 primary in the two counties with Miller ahead of Tara Zrinski by about 42 votes.
Meanwhile, Lehigh County expects to certify the results of a 2021 judicial race today when it counts 257 mail-in ballots that did not have required handwritten dates on outer envelopes.
Miller, who intervened in the case as a plaintiff and previously claimed victory, did not want to comment until he had a chance to review the agreement.
Zrinski, a Northampton County commissioner, said she is satisfied with the outcome even if it means she will not be the Democratic candidate in the November election. Former Lehigh County Commissioner Dean Browning is the Republican candidate.
“Making sure every vote gets counted has been my highest priority. This settlement represents movement towards that goal, while also allowing us to move forward toward the November elections,” said Zrinski in the press release issued by Mobilio.
“While I am deeply saddened that the votes in this race will not get counted, which means I will not be the State Senator for District 14, improving the vote by mail process and ensuring greater access to the ballot box in future elections, is what is most important to me.”
The agreement comes as no-excuse, mail-in voting, which was legalized in Pennsylvania in 2019 by the Republican-controlled Legislature, has become embroiled in a legal game of tug-of-war over whether ballots should be counted or rejected over the failure to include handwritten dates on outer envelopes or whether the state’s Constitution allows them at all.
In the 14th District case, the settlement will not allow the 260 rejected ballots to be counted. Nor does it address late-arriving ballots, which the lawsuit says were mailed prior to election day.
Instead, it seeks to reduce the chance of rejection over naked ballots – those ballots that were not first sealed in secrecy envelopes before being returned or mailed in outer envelopes.
Since mail-in ballots are opened ahead of time – but not processed – there exists an opportunity to notify voters of their errors and allow them to cast provisional ballots before the polls close.
According to Mobilio’s press release, Lehigh County has agreed to:
Notify all voters whose naked ballots are discovered prior to 8 p.m. on Election Day and/or provide the names of such voters to the party representative(s) who are on-site during pre-canvassing so that the party representative(s) can notify the voters.
Explore the purchase of a ballot sorter that has the capability to either weigh return ballots or measure their thickness so that voters can be notified of possible naked ballots.
Explore notifying voters if, upon receipt of their ballot, they believe that they may have submitted a naked ballot.
Explore changing the color of the secrecy envelope to something more conspicuous than white, so that the secrecy envelope stands out to the voter and is easily discernible from other materials provided to them with their mail-in ballot.
Include an insert with all outgoing mail-in ballot applications and absentee ballot applications (including permanent voter mailings) emphasizing the importance of providing contact information.
Include messaging on the Lehigh County Voter Registration website emphasizing the importance of providing contact information.
According to Mobilo, Northampton has agreed to:
Include messaging to Northampton County voters emphasizing the importance of providing contact information including a notice on the Northampton County voter registration website.
During the pre-canvass, which begins on or after 7 a.m. on Election Day, the county shall provide the names of all voters whose naked ballots are discovered prior to 8 p.m. on Election Day to the party and/or candidate representative(s) who are on site during pre-canvassing so that the party representative(s) can notify the voters.
Explore changing the color of the secrecy envelope to something more conspicuous than white, so that the secrecy envelope stands out to the voter and is easily discernible from other materials provided to them with their mail-in ballot.
Mobilio called the measures a step in the right direction. He hopes lawmakers in Harrisburg take notice of the agreement.
“[T]hese new measures will help protect future elections from being called into question due to uncounted ballots, and help ensure voters understand what they need to do to comply with the law,” Mobilio said.
The nine plaintiffs in the case are Ruthann Bausch, Marcia Day Dondiego, Judith Reed, Rhoda Emefa Amedeku, Daniel Strohler, Sharon Strohler, Bernard Boakye, Lori Rieker and Lisa Danner.