Countdown to Election Day: Clinton County Prepares for November Polls and Proposes Mail-In and Absentee Ballot Curing Policy
By Emily Wright
LOCK HAVEN – At the Clinton County Commissioners work session on Monday, October 14, Voter Registrar Maria Boileau informed the board about the 2024 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grant aimed at enhancing election security. Additionally, Boileau discussed a proposed policy for correcting defective mail-in and absentee ballots and reminded everyone of key upcoming election dates.
“This is a contract for $3,000 for election security funding as authorized under the Help America Vote Act,” Boileau said before noting that this is a reimbursement grant. “It covers voting equipment, voting processes, voter registration, physical security, cyber security, and voter education,” she said.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 was signed into law in March 2024, and the Act included $55 million in new HAVA funds to improve election security and technology across the country for the upcoming federal elections. Pennsylvania’s share of this federal funding is $1 million.
Half of Pennsylvania’s grant, amounting to $500,000, will be distributed among its counties. This funding will be used for various election-related expenses such as upgrading voting equipment, training election staff, improving physical and cyber security, voter education, post-election audits, and ensuring that polling places are fully accessible.
The state will use the rest of the grant to enhance the election process on a broader scale. The grant funds were allocated proportionally to the 67 counties in PA using a formula-based process based on voter registration numbers in each county as of April 23, 2024.
Next, Boileau announced that this Thursday, October 17, at 9:30 a.m., the Clinton County Board of Elections will be holding a meeting to consider a curing policy for defective mail-in ballots that are undated, unsigned, or incorrectly dated.
“You want to make sure that if you have a mail-in ballot, you sign and date the correct date,” Boileau said. “That is the day that you sign, not a birthdate,” she clarified.
Boileau explained that if a ballot is unsigned, incorrectly dated, or cast without being inserted into its secrecy envelope, the ballot is considered to be defective. She is requesting that the commissioners adopt a curing policy, which would allow the Clinton County Voting Registration Office to make one attempt to contact a voter who cast a defective ballot by text message, phone call, or a postcard to make them aware that they need to contact the Voting Registration Office by Election Day to make corrections. “You may also vote provisionally at the polling place if you’re not able to do so,” she added.
“Just for clarity, it’s not correcting the ballot; it’s just correcting the envelope in which the ballot was received,” Commissioner Angela Harding asserted. “So if someone gets called because their mail-in ballot was not accurate, they will not be able to open up any of the envelopes; they’re only going to be able to correct their signature and the date that’s on the back of the envelope, correct?” Harding questioned.
Boileau explained that voters would not be able to touch the ballot itself to make any corrections. “You’re never touching the ballot; it is a voted ballot in our office,” she said. “It is just to correct the envelope,” she clarified.
Boileau highlighted important election dates for the community: The deadline to register to vote or update voter registration is Monday, October 21, 2024. The final day to apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot is Tuesday, October 29. Election Day will be Tuesday, November 5, 2024, with polling places open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The commissioners will hold their voting session on Thursday, October 17, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. All meetings are held in the 2nd-floor conference room of the Piper Building at 2 Piper Way in Lock Haven. Meetings are also livestreamed on the “Clinton County Government” Facebook page.
