The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that counties must count provisional ballots cast by voters who mistakenly submitted “naked” mail-in ballots—those lacking an inner secrecy envelope.
In the 4-3 ruling, the court affirmed that casting a provisional ballot is explicitly authorized under Pennsylvania’s Election Code.
“Provisional ballots exist as a failsafe to preserve access to the right to vote… [and are] intended to alleviate potential disenfranchisement for eligible voters,” the court’s opinion stated. The ruling further emphasized that counting provisional ballots when mail ballots are voided for lacking a secrecy envelope is a statutory right.
The case arose from a lawsuit brought by two Butler County voters whose provisional ballots were rejected during the 2024 primary election. A lower court previously sided with the voters, finding that the county board of elections had erred by disqualifying their provisional ballots. The Republican National Committee and state GOP appealed the ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court’s decision.
The Republican appellants argued that allowing voters to cast provisional ballots in such cases would effectively require counties to implement cure procedures for naked ballots. However, the court rejected this claim. While Butler County permits voters to fix errors in mail-in ballots related to date or signature, it does not offer a cure option for naked ballots. A 2020 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling had already determined that naked mail-in ballots must be disqualified, making provisional voting critical for voters whose ballots are voided due to missing secrecy envelopes.
The RNC and GOP also contended that Pennsylvania law bars counting provisional ballots if a mail-in ballot is received on time, even if it is disqualified for errors. The court rejected this argument as well.
Justice Christine Donohue, who authored the majority opinion, concluded that disenfranchising voters for not adhering to mail-in ballot requirements, despite using the provisional voting system, would violate the state constitution’s guarantee of “free and equal” elections.
A separate case involving the RNC, currently before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, may also affect the upcoming election. A decision is pending.
Read the ruling here.
