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Hello, Pennsylvania!

Before we get into the newsletter, I want to share a little about how my reporting led to an important impact. In February of this year, I learned about a printing error with mail ballot request forms sent out in Chester County. The county had been plagued by a string of recent errors and had pledged to make reforms. Before I began reporting on the error, the county had not publicly disclosed the issue, but after I began asking questions, it posted a notice on its website.

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Now, let’s talk about a scoop we have for you on the still unresolved accusation from the federal government that there are thousands of potential noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. For those who need a refresher, in July the Department of Homeland Security said it had discovered 14,576 potential noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls, and the Pennsylvania Department of State called the accuracy of that assertion into question and asked DHS to divulge the methodology it used for the search.

Well, last week I got my hands on an email from DHS staff to Secretary Al Schmidt, which provided some insight into how the agency conducted its search. Interestingly, it didn’t mention using Social Security Numbers, which DHS had said was part of the identification process back in July. Read the full story here.

Ballots are starting to hit voters' mail boxes as the 2026 election gets underway. The issues we have seen in previous years have largely subsided with redesigns, court rulings, and voters generally getting more used to the process. But the data around mail ballots can still have a lot of meaningful insight. I’m curious about how request and return rates around the state are shifting, so I’m putting together this daily sheet comparing 2026 requests and returns with that of 2024 and 2022. If you find it useful, let me know!

Quote of the Week

“Donald Trump’s illegal attempt to undermine our Constitution and prevent eligible voters from making their voices heard in this election by voting by mail has failed.”

This week’s quote comes from Governor Josh Shapiro. Shapiro posted the statement to X after the U.S. The Supreme Court blocked Trump's executive order on mail voting from going into effect. Read the full story here from Votebeat.

What else should I look into? You can always reach me by email at [email protected], on X @ByCarterWalker, or on Bluesky @bycarterwalker.bsky.social. Follow me on TikTok and Instagram for video explainers of Pennsylvania voting and elections news.

And if you know someone who might be interested in our reporting on elections and voting throughout Pennsylvania, forward them this newsletter — they can sign up for it here.

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