Could Naked Ballots Be This Year’s Hanging Chads?
In the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, as the presidency hung in the balance during the Florida recount, millions of Americans learned about some of the arcane elements of election administration, like how “hanging chads” are handled. Will 2020 make “naked ballots” a permanent addition to our vocabulary?
Here in Pennsylvania and in select other states, votes sent by mail have to arrive in two envelopes — an outer envelope that allows election officials to verify who is voting, and an inner “secrecy” envelope that has no identifying information, so it conceals the voter's choices. A “naked ballot” is one that arrives without a secrecy envelope. And according to a September ruling by Pennsylvania's Supreme Court, naked ballots don't count in that state. Moreover, Pennsylvania election officials cannot open mail ballots until Election Day, so there's no process for informing voters that their ballot could be thrown out and giving them a chance to correct the problem. As of Nov. 2, Pennsylvania had rejected only 897 mailed votes, according to the U.S. Elections Project, but that's because naked ballots won't even be identified until Nov. 3.
This is the first general election in which Pennsylvanians can vote by mail without an excuse, so it is unclear just how many people risk being disenfranchised by this issue. Concern over naked ballots has prompted extensive efforts to educate Pennsylvania voters, including videos with naked celebrities and stories in local papers. But given that Democrats are more likely to send in a mail-in ballot than Republicans, the problem of naked ballots may disproportionately affect Democratic votes.