Democracy Dies in Darkness

Would-be mail-in voters in key Pennsylvania county can go in person, judge says

A judge’s order would apply to at least 14,000 in the crucial swing county of Erie, Pennsylvania, who say they never got their requested mail-in ballots, in a move hailed by both major parties.

5 min

Mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania on Oct. 30. (Rebecca Droke/AFP/Getty Images)

By Sarah Blaskey

and

Samuel Oakford

November 2, 2024 at 4:03 a.m. EDT

At least 14,000 or more voters in Erie County, Pennsylvania, who wanted to submit mail-in ballots will be allowed to vote in person before Election Day after officials were unable to verify whether they ever received the ones they requested, according to an order from Erie County Judge David Ridge on Friday.

By Sarah Blaskey

Sarah Blaskey is an investigative reporter on The Washington Post’s rapid-response investigations team.

By Samuel Oakford

Samuel Oakford is a video reporter for The Washington Post's Visual Forensics team. Before joining The Post, he worked as a senior journalist at Storyful and a reporter for Vice News at the United Nations. He was also a reporter for the civilian harm monitor Airwars and conducted open source investigations for Bellingcat's Yemen Project.

NewsletterDaily

Today’s Headlines

The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors, delivered every morning.

Subscribe to comment and get the full experience. Choose your plan →

Subscribe and save up to 70%. Switch on.