'Black Box' On Montco Mail-In Ballots Is Okay, Officials Say

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Residents have no need to be concerned if there is a blacked out rectangle on the front of their mail-in ballot, Montgomery County officials say.

Many local voters have received ballots with a black strip running across the address box on the front of the envelope.

"If your ballot arrived with a black box like this, it’s OK." State Sen. Katie Muth said, adding that "Mine arrived on Saturday and looked like this."

According to authorities, some ballots were printed out with the home address of the voter showing twice on the outside envelope: once on the left side of the outer envelope, once through the window on the right side.

>>Montgomery County Ballot Drop-Box Locations 2020

Both the US Postal Service and the Pennsylvania Department of State approved this format, but the Postal Service asked Montgomery County officials to cover up the second address on the window screen to "avoid any confusion," per the county.

"In an abundance of caution, our printer “blacked out” the additional address in compliance with the USPS request," the Montgomery County elections office said.

Additionally, officials said that there are delays in sending out emails confirming receipt of ballots. Still, the county is receiving "thousands of ballots a day," and is continuing to send out thousands a day. Hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been placed in the mail in Montgomery County.

Voters are reminded to place their ballot in both envelopes — the secrecy envelope and the mailing envelope — to ensure their vote is counted. "Naked ballots" not placed in the secrecy envelope may not be counted.