By Gordon Plate
Jim Brewster was reelected in the 45th Pennsylvania Senate District, winning the election by 69 votes. The challenger, Nicole Ziccarelli, opposed the seating of Brewster on the grounds that different counties applied different standards to the mail-in votes — Allegheny County counted ballots missing a date on the outer envelope, while Westmoreland County did not count ballots that were missing a date.
Apparently, the commonwealth’s directions on how to fill out the Pennsylvania mail-in ballot are being misinterpreted by different counties. Researching official websites did not help clear up the matter for this writer, as one did not mention recording the date, while another did.