MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
In the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania, voters have already begun sending in their ballots by mail. Right now there are several ongoing lawsuits across the state over whose mail-in ballots must be counted. The final outcome of these cases could help determine who wins Pennsylvania's electoral votes, which could really matter, with polls suggesting we are in for a tight presidential race. NPR voting rights correspondent Hansi Lo Wang has been tracking this and is here now. Hi, Hansi.
HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: What is the focus of these lawsuits?
WANG: They're all focused on what to do when a mail-in voter in Pennsylvania returns an absentee ballot on time but doesn't follow other rules for getting their vote counted.
KELLY: OK, before we get into the details, who is bringing these lawsuits?
WANG: Well, it's been voting rights groups, and they're arguing that sometimes voters make mistakes, and those who do should not have their ballots rejected. But Republican groups have been pushing back, and generally, they're arguing in the court that the state's election rules are the rules, and they should be followed exactly. You know, what's interesting is that all of these legal questions could be resolved by state lawmakers. In fact, a bipartisan advisory board recommended changes to Pennsylvania's election law to, quote, "eliminate confusion and litigation." But there's been partisan gridlock in Pennsylvania, so voters in the state really have to pay close attention to all the required steps for mail-in voting.
KELLY: OK, so they have to do each step exactly as it has been laid out. What are the steps?
WANG: If you are voting by mail in Pennsylvania, you have to first seal your completed ballot inside a yellow-colored secrecy envelope and put that yellow envelope inside an outer return envelope. And before you return it, you have to add your signature on that return envelope and handwrite the current date under your signature.
KELLY: Go back to one of the things you just said about that - the yellow secrecy envelopes - because those have been the focus of some of this litigation.
WANG: Yeah, election officials have been calling ballots that come without those secrecy envelopes naked ballots. And if you're missing that yellow secrecy envelope, your ballot is not supposed to be counted. But there's a lawsuit over whether Pennsylvania voters whose naked ballots are rejected can cast provisional ballots in person on Election Day. And this month the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said, yes, those provisional ballots should be counted, but this afternoon the Republican National Committee asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.
KELLY: OK, I got it. And then what about that other step you mentioned - ballots in return envelopes but that maybe are missing the current date handwritten by the voter?
WANG: Right. Some call these undated and misdated ballots. And to be clear, we're talking about ballots that arrive on time, but the issue is about this artifact of Pennsylvania's election rules that require the voter to handwrite the current date on that outer return envelope. And for now, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled these undated or misdated ballots should not be counted, but that may not be the final word before Election Day. I'm watching a case out of Philadelphia that's working its way up the state courts.
KELLY: OK, so we're talking about what's happening in Pennsylvania. What should absentee voters in other states be keeping in mind as they're maybe looking at mail-in ballots and we're getting step by step closer to Election Day?
WANG: You know, mail-in voters in every state should take real care when they're returning their ballots. We often see thousands of ballots rejected in a state's election because of mistakes. And I should point out tomorrow is the postal service's suggested deadline for returning your ballot if it arrives - so it arrives by Election Day. And after that, absentee voters may want to consider returning their ballot in person...
KELLY: Right.
WANG: ...At their county election office or at a drop box if there's one nearby.
KELLY: NPR's Hansi Lo Wang. Thank you.
WANG: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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