‘They took my right to vote away’

NEW HANOVER » When a New Hanover couple, lifelong Democrats, received mail-in ballots with the wrong party affiliation on Thursday they were “infuriated,” realizing the election snafu likely will prevent them from casting votes for the first time in more than three decades.

The couple has medical conditions that will prevent them from going to the polls in-person to cast votes next Tuesday.

“We’re older. The whole idea was for us to not have to go in-person to vote. The reason I got the mail-in ballot was so that we didn’t have to go to the polls. So, we’re not going to be able to vote. It’s disgusting. This is ridiculous. This is such a screw-up. Can anyone get anything right anymore?” the woman said during an interview on

Friday as she discussed her dilemma just days from Tuesday’s primary election.

“We have never missed a vote. In 35 years we have never missed a primary or a major election, ever,” said the woman, who feared being disenfranchised. “This is the first time I may end up not voting, which is terrible. I feel terrible. They took my right to vote away from me.”

MediaNews Group is withholding the couple’s names because of their age and health conditions.

The woman said she and her husband applied for mailin ballots in a timely fashion and waited 3½ weeks to receive them. When the Democrats opened their mail on Thursday, they noticed the ballots were marked with the

“I’ve been very critical of mailin voting for several months now. I pointed out that it could be extremely problematic and it turns out that it has been.”

- Montgomery County Commissioner Joseph C. Gale

Republican affiliation.

“I said, ‘What? What?’ I realized they sent us the wrong ballot. It was infuriating because of the timing,” said the woman, recalling her initial reaction.

During previous years, the woman said, she and her husband always went to the polls to cast their votes.

“I never thought in a million years I’d do a mail-in ballot but this year it was really important that we do this. I do not want to go to the polls because I’m fearful of the pandemic. My husband is battling cancer, I can’t take that chance. I am scared to death of even going to the grocery store,” said the woman, who is diabetic.

“We are following every single protocol we can to keep from getting this disease. It would be fatal for either one of us,” the woman said.

The woman’s attempts on Thursday or Friday to reach county Voter Services officials in Norristown to discuss the matter were unsuccessful.

“I feel defeated,” said the woman, who also reported her problem to her state representative’s office. “We are pretty peace loving and we don’t stir the pot too much, but this is the ultimate.”

On Friday, Montgomery County Commissioner Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., who is also chairman of the county election board, apologized to voters facing predicaments like that of the New Hanover couple.

“I would apologize to those voters. There have been unacceptable errors that have been made during this process. That has nothing to do with mail. That’s something that should have been controlled and caught and it shouldn’t have happened,” Lawrence said. “We need to figure out how it happened.”

Last week, county Voters Services officials posted on the county’s website that they were aware of “the issue that affects a limited number of voters.” Officials said 1,984 incorrect ballots had been mailed. In a primary election, the county prints two ballots, one for those registered Republican to vote for that party’s nominees and one for Democrats. A registered voter can only vote on the ballot for the party in which they’re registered. The county acknowledged sending Republican ballots to registered Democrats.

“We apologize for this error,” officials wrote on the website.

Officials said corrected ballots were mailed to the affected voters on Tuesday,

May 26.

Because of delays in mail delivery, voters are urged to return their ballots to one of the county’s five secure ballot drop box locations that were established for the election.

When it became evident that mail delivery times have been slower than normal during the COVID-19 crisis, five secure ballot drop-off boxes were installed throughout the county to help voters meet the June 2 deadline. Completed mail-in ballots and absentee ballots can be dropped off at the boxes through 8 p.m. June 2.

Those who do not receive their mail-in ballots before Tuesday can still go to their polling place in person and ask the judge of election for a provisional ballot to cast their vote, officials said.

“This is an option that some residents of Montgomery County are not aware of,” Commissioner Joseph C. Gale, the lone Republican on the threemember commissioners’ board who has repeatedly criticized the mail-in voting procedures, said on Friday. “I’ve been very critical of mail-in voting for several months now. I pointed out that it could be extremely problematic and it turns out that it has been.

“There are thousands of voters that have not received their ballot yet. There are thousands of voters that have received incorrect ballots. There’s thousands of voters that received instructions that were not correct,” Gale said. “And this is very challenging for these voters because of the time sensitive nature of the upcoming election.”

County officials on Tuesday filed a petition in the Court of Common Pleas requesting a seven-day extension for county Voter Services

to receive and count mail-in ballots as long as they were postmarked by June 2. On Wednesday, a judge turned down that request and the county filed a notice of appeal to the state Commonwealth Court, which is still pending.

The New Hanover woman said the couple had planned to drop off their mail-in ballots at a secure ballot box at Green Lane Park along Snyder Road.

“It’s too late for them to mail me my ballot. I’ll never get them,” the New Hanover woman feared. “I will not get that ballot in time, I know that. I can’t believe they did this. There’s going to be votes here that aren’t going to be cast because it just eliminated our possibility of voting. It’s wrong. It’s very disappointing.”

“There’s going to be votes here that aren’t going to be cast because it just eliminated our possibility of voting.”

- New Hanover woman

“I would apologize to those voters. There have been unacceptable errors that have been made during this process.”

- Montgomery County Commissioner Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr.