The Montgomery County Board of Elections is postponing the certification of the 2023 General Election due to yesterday's ruling of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

            The election certification, which was scheduled to happen on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, will be postponed to allow for the canvass and tabulation of undated and improperly dated mail-in ballots. The canvass and tabulation will begin on Monday, November 27 at 10 a.m. at the Montgomery County Voters Services Warehouse, located at 1006 W Washington St, Norristown, PA 19401. Canvassers will open up to 349 ballots that have missing or incorrectly dated envelopes, tabulate them, and include them in the official results for the election.

            The court's ruling declared that not counting ballots with a missing or incorrect date violates federal law. "The provision protects a citizen's right to vote by forbidding a state actor from disqualifying a voter because of their failure to provide or error in providing some unnecessary information on a voting application or ballot," Judge Susan Baxter wrote in her opinion. The court's order states that the missing or incorrect date is unnecessary information and thus should not affect a voter's eligibility to have their votes counted.

            "In Montgomery County, we have consistently taken the position that the Election Code should be interpreted broadly in favor of voters' rights. All eligible voters should have their ballots counted," said Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Elections. "We will take the additional time needed to ensure that these ballots are included in the official results of the 2023 General Election." 

            After all eligible ballots have been counted, in accordance with the election code, the results will be posted for the five-day waiting period. The County will then certify the 2023 General Election.