A state Supreme Court ruling now means county election offices must correctly report why mail-in ballots are not immediately counted, such as for signature or dating errors.

On Friday, the court issued a narrow 4-3 decision on a case out of Washington County that strengthens voters’ rights with mail-in ballots and gives them the opportunity to use provisional ballots as a back-up measure.

Over 250 mail-in ballots in 2024 were not initially counted by Washington County because of perceived errors, but officials had decided shortly before that April primary to change how they reported those ballots to the state.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , county officials directed election workers to describe questionable ballots as “received” rather than pending or rejected when mak

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