Complaints over election issues can be lodged online in Pa.

    Formal election complaints before, after, and on Election Day in Pennsylvania now can be submitted online.

    The Nov. 6 election could bring all kinds of hiccups, says Department of State spokesman Ron Ruman.

     

    “Unregistered people voting or voter intimidation or not helping voters as they should,” he said, listing a few examples.

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    Any of those instances could be the subject of complaints lodged online, he said.

    “We think it’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure that our elections are conducted fairly and if anyone sees something that they think might be a violation of election law, they can now report that online by going to either the Department of State homepage or votespa.com and clicking on ‘election complaints,'” Ruman said.

    But the state’s website is only a clearinghouse for voter beefs.County election boards are the ones with the authority to investigate and act on complaints.

    And it’s not clear if each complaint will be forwarded to counties instantaneously or by the end of the business day.

    Only registered voters may submit complaints. To pass the online registration test, one has to enter name, address, birth date, and certify that you’re not a robot.

    Ruman says how quickly complaints are forwarded to counties may depend on how quickly the voter’s registration is verified.

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