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Speakers seek clearer, searchable public records on provisional and mail-ballot rejections
Summary
Public commenters asked the Erie County Board of Elections to publish categorized, itemized records of provisional and mail-ballot rejections and to ensure county election pages are easily discoverable and linked.
Margaret Watts of Washington Township and another public commenter asked the Erie County Board of Elections to make records of provisional and mail-ballot rejections clearer and easier for voters to find online.
"Does the county create a list of provisional and mail ballots that will be rejected? Is there an itemized list by category of error, like the signature and the secrecy envelope issues?" Margaret Watts asked during the public-comment period.
Watts requested a categorized itemization of rejected mail and provisional ballots and asked how voters are notified if a provisional ballot is challenged. She also requested the county's election information be posted and linked clearly between the county's main website and the elections site because, she said, "For some folks, they don't know that there are 2 websites. And could these 2 websites be explicitly linked to each other so people have a better access to locating the information they're looking for?"
Elections staff responded to the board that the elections site is linked with the county's main website and that old links had been deleted; the director said the sites should work seamlessly when accessed via the county portal. The staff confirmed that records of mail-in ballots with defects that were posted prior to the election are maintained and are available on request, and that federal elections have a 22-month retention period for records. "The federal elections have a 22 month retention period," a staff member said.
Board members and staff noted a 2022 board resolution about write-in processing that affects which names are itemized in reports: the board's 2022 resolution requires the department not to review every single write-in unless thresholds are met, which explains why not all write-in names appear on public reports.
No formal action was taken at the meeting on changes to public records practice; commenters asked staff to consider clearer posting and linking and to confirm retention and notification procedures.
