One of Pennsylvania’s largest counties sent mail ballots with the incorrect date for the November election in guidance for Spanish-speaking voters, and officials say they are working to rectify the mistake.
Berks County officials said they are sending notices to voters to make sure they know that ballots must be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 2. In the county’s initial mailing to about 17,000 voters, Berks officials incorrectly said in the instructions in Spanish that the ballots had to be returned by Nov. 18.
Berks County officials have acknowledged the mistake, which had some Latino voters and lawmakers fuming.
On Friday night, Berks County Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt, a Democrat, issued a statement on the situation. He said that he wanted people to understand it was an error, and it’s not part of a conspiracy to minimize Latino participation in the election.
“First and foremost, the conspiracy claims must stop,” Barnhardt said in a statement.
“This was simply a product of human error, not an intentional act to disenfranchise voters,” he said. “The county understands the enormity of this issue and we apologize for any inconvenience or confusion that it has caused. Myself, my fellow commissioners and our staff are dedicated to correcting the issue for this election and to putting procedures into place to ensure it does not happen again.”
County officials have said the mistake was made because in printing the instructions for voters, they initially left part of the date for the May 18 primary election. Staffers changed the month to November, but didn’t change the date.
Nonetheless, state Rep. Angel Cruz, D-Philadelphia, blasted the county and asked for an investigation.
“This is a significant error that needs to be corrected with strong and swift action by both Berks County officials and Department of State officials,” Cruz said in a statement. “The state needs to step in and help the county contact in various ways each and every voter who received an erroneous ballot.
“Any voter who is subject to an error of this magnitude needs more than a blanket apology, notice in the newspaper or another, corrected ballot in the mail. Anything less than a full-court press is disenfranchisement.”
In Reading, Berks County’s largest municipality, about two out of three residents are Latino. State Rep. Manuel Guzman, a Democrat who represents Reading, said the county must undertake an intensive outreach effort to reach Latino voters.
“People make mistakes, but when a mistake potentially silences the voices of tens of thousands of people, there must be more accountability than essentially shrugging one’s shoulders and saying, ‘My bad,’” Guzman said in a statement Thursday. “We are talking about directly disenfranchising more than 17,000 potential voters in the fastest-growing group of citizens in Berks County – a number equaling more than 5% of the total voter turnout in the November 2020 election.”
County staff did spot the error and sent some mail ballots with the correct date. In addition to sending letters to those who received instructions with the incorrect date, Berks County officials have been issuing media releases in English and Spanish to notify voters.
Barnhardt said county elections staff are making efforts to reach out to Latino voters. He asked for the focus to remain on educating voters so they can cast their ballots.
“Our staff also needs to be able to focus their attention on the many responsibilities they have as we prepare for Election Day,” Barnhardt said in his statement. “We’re all human and errors unfortunately occur, but we now must focus on being part of the solution to help educate our community about how to make their vote count.”
All mail ballots in Pennsylvania must be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 2. Postmarks by that date are insufficient.
On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections, suggested voters should hand deliver their mail ballots if possible to their county election offices or drop boxes.
“It’s time to return your mail ballot to ensure it arrives by the deadline,” Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid said Friday. “Although county election boards will accept voted mail ballots until 8 p.m. on Election Day, voters should not wait until the last minute.”
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