Ballot secrecy could be jeopardized by recent Pa. court rulings, officials say
Recent decisions from a Pennsylvania state court could create a new route to pierce the secrecy of some mail ballots and reveal the private choices made by thousands of voters.
While a very small percentage of cast ballots would be at risk, according to a pair of analyses, some state and county officials are concerned about the potential for any voter’s choices to be exposed.
In two cases last year, the Commonwealth Court ruled that voted mail ballots were public records under the state’s open-records laws, meaning Erie and Allegheny counties, where the records requests were filed, would have to release them.
These ballots are already separated from their envelopes, so they would not include the voters’ names or other directly identifying information.
https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/03/commonwealth-court-rulings-compromise-secret-ballots-transparency-elections/