Above the Law has disturbing news from Pennsylvania. Some voting machines have broken down and voters are casting their votes on paper ballots. According to ATL’s Elie Mystal (link fixed), voters are being told that their emergency votes on paper will be counted as provisional ballots, not as ordinary votes. This is a problem because provisional ballots frequently go uncounted:

But once again, voters are being told that their paper ballot (which they are using because of a machine breakdown) will be counted as provisional instead of regular.

Counting those ballots as provisional is a violation of state election law. As we understand it, all paper ballots should be counted as regular ballots if voters are using them because of a machine breakdown. [ATL]

Counting paper ballots as provisional is a violation of Pennsylvania election law, according to Mystal.

We’ll keep an eye on this story.  It’s possible that poll workers are inadvertently giving out bad information, or that voters are misinterpreting what they’re being told. 

Can any of our legal eagles confirm that it emergency paper ballots must be counted as regular votes in PA if they are used because of broken voting machines?