JOSH KELETY

Mail-in ballots sit in a secure area of the the Allegheny County Elections Division warehouse, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Under lock and key: How ballots get from Pennsylvania precincts to election offices
Pennsylvania election officials take a variety of measures to secure ballots when they are transported from polling places to county facilities.
 
People fill out mail-in ballots for the 2024 General Election in the United States at a Voters Services satellite office at the Chester County Government Services Center, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in West Chester, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Separating fact from fiction in Pennsylvania’s election process
Pennsylvania is often the subject of election-related misinformation. Social media users have, for instance, falsely suggested that large numbers of migrants are illegally registering to vote in the crucial swing state, and made baseless claims about foul play involving deceased voters.
 
FILE - This is an official Pennsylvania mail-in ballot in Pittsburgh, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
What happens if a ballot in Pennsylvania is damaged?
Pennsylvania election officials say that voters have returned ballots that were ripped, had coffee spilled on them, or even burned. When that happens officials duplicate the ballots to ensure they can be scanned and counted by election equipment.
 
FILE - A Delaware County secured drop box for the return of vote-by-mail ballots is pictured, May 2, 2022, in Newtown Square, Pa. Pennsylvania law generally requires voters to return their own ballot and prohibits people from returning other voters’ ballots on their behalf. But there are exceptions.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
In Pennsylvania, am I allowed to drop off a ballot for another voter?
Pennsylvania law generally requires voters to return their own ballot and prohibits people from returning other voters’ ballots on their behalf. But there are exceptions.
 
FILE - An Allegheny County worker processes mail-in and absentee ballots in Pittsburgh, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
How do Pennsylvania service members and others who are overseas vote?
Pennsylvania overseas and military voters face unique challenges when it comes to voting. That’s why federal and Pennsylvania law provides them special accommodations to ensure that they can vote.
 
FILE - Voting equipment at the Allegheny County Election Division Elections warehouse in Pittsburgh is prepared to be moved to polling sites throughout Allegheny County, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Preparing Pennsylvania’s voting machines: What is logic and accuracy testing?
Counties in Pennsylvania have started testing their voting equipment to ensure that it’s working properly ahead of the November election. All election equipment used to count votes is tested during the process.
 
FILE - Chester County, Pa., election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa., Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
Despite confusion, mail voting has not yet started in Pennsylvania
Voters in Pennsylvania are not yet able to cast ballots, despite confusion over a state law concerning applications for mail ballots.
 
FILE - Kris Mayes smiles before a debate on Sept. 28, 2022, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Prosecutors in Arizona’s fake electors case dispute defendants’ allegations of a political motive
Prosecutors are defending their case against Republicans accused of plotting to overturn the results of the close 2020 presidential race in Arizona after defense attorneys painted them as politically motivated.
 
FILE - Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, speaks at a campaign rally, June 6, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
Defense attorneys in Arizona’s fake elector case call prosecutors politically motivated
Attorneys representing Republicans accused of scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential race in Arizona are arguing that a grand jury indictment against their clients was politically motivated.
 
FILE - Cars line the main stretch of Virginia City, Nev., that attracts tens of thousands of tourists. (AP Photo/Gabe Stern, File)
Nevada man accused of hate crime acknowledged in police interview that he referenced ‘hanging tree’
A criminal complaint says a Nevada man accused of a hate crime admitted he mentioned a “hanging tree” during a verbal altercation with a Black man near Reno.
 
A jet ski pulls in buoys from the CrossFit Games at Marine Creek Lake, where an athlete drowned during the run swim event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy/Star-Telegram via AP)
A Serbian competitor in the CrossFit Games dies during a swimming event at a Texas lake
A Serbian competitor in the CrossFit Games has died while competing in a swimming event at a Texas lake. CrossFit CEO Don Faul says they were “deeply saddened” by the death Thursday morning of one of their athletes.
 
FILE - Cars line the main stretch of Virginia City, Nev., that attracts tens of thousands of tourists. (AP Photo/Gabe Stern, File)
Three people arrested in rural Nevada over altercation that Black man says involved a racial slur
Three people have been arrested and charged in connection with a verbal altercation last week in Virginia City, Nevada, during which a Black man said a racial slur was directed at him by a man who also said “they have a hanging tree” for people like him.
 
Charges revealed against former Trump chief of staff in Arizona fake elector case
Mark Meadows, former president Donald Trump’s chief of staff, faces the same conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges as the other named defendants in Arizona’s fake electors case, the state attorney general’s office says.
 
FILE - Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Washington, Dec. 15, 2023. Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes says Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state’s fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Arizona indicts 18 in election interference case, including Giuliani and Meadows
An Arizona grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, lawyer Rudy Giuliani and 16 others in an election interference case related to the 2020 presidential vote.
 
FILE - An email from July 10, 2018, with the syllabus about Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch teaching an upcoming law class in Italy is photographed, July 10, 2023. An Associated Press examination of the ethics practices of the U.S. Supreme Court relied on documents obtained from more than 100 public records requests to public colleges, universities and other institutions that have hosted the justices over the past decade. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
States have hodgepodge of cumbersome rules for enforcing sunshine laws
In Alabama, the only avenue for resolving complaints about alleged violations of state public records or open meetings law is to file a lawsuit. The Alabama attorney general generally does not play a significant role in enforcing state open government laws.
 
Deep-red Arizona county rejects proposal to hand-count ballots in 2024 elections
A northwestern Arizona county where Republican voters far outnumber Democrats has rejected a proposal to hand-count ballots in the 2024 election cycle. The Mohave County Board of Supervisors defeated the proposal 3-2 on Tuesday.