More than 21 million people had submitted their midterm ballots by mail as of early Sunday morning. But those voters may not be done yet.
People who vote by mail may get a phone call, email or text message from their local election offices regarding any potential problem with their ballot. But that doesn’t necessarily mean their votes don’t count, because in many states voters may correct, or “cure” mistakes.
Here’s what you need to know.
Many states require voters to sign their mail-in or absentee ballots to confirm their identity. Election officials cross-reference these signatures with the signatures provided on an individual’s voter registration file. Problems may come in the form of a missing signature or one that does not clearly match the version on file, a not-uncommon occurrence. When that happens, states that participate in ballot curing will need to verify a voter’s identity through alternative means.
To submit a mail-in ballot, all 50 states require voters to provide a signature and follow many other requirements to ensure their ballot is properly counted. Twenty-four states follow a process that, in the event of an issue with the ballot, allows voters to correct any mistakes, an operation known as ballot curing. The remaining states will not count a ballot with disparities in signatures or other complications with identity verification.
Ballot curing is a two-step process that involves notification and correction. Depending on the state, officials will allow voters to cure their ballot in one of two ways. The first would be to submit a version of a signature verification affidavit to the local election office, as in the case of Oregon, Utah and Washington. In the alternative option, states like Minnesota, Massachusetts and Iowa will send the voter a replacement ballot to resubmit.
The turnaround for ballot curing differs on a state-by-state basis. Some states like Kentucky, Vermont and Montana require voters to cure their ballots on the day of the election. Most states that offer ballot curing provide voters with at least two days to fix any mistakes on the ballot, with the mean deadline being seven days. Since the ballot curing process varies by state, voters should check with their local election offices to determine the window for correcting ballot issues.
Pennsylvania has a complicated situation. Ballot curing only occurs in some counties, including Bucks, Philadelphia and Allegheny. Last month, the state’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision to deny an appeal by the Republican National Committee and other GOP organizations to block counties from allowing ballot curing. However, the high court just last week ordered state election officials to discard any ballots that are undated or incorrectly dated by voters. With Democrats using mail-in ballots more often than Republicans, the decision may help the GOP candidates in hard-fought races for senator and governor
While ballot curing only occurs in select states, they give voters the opportunity to have their vote counted in the event of a mistake with their ballot. If you are notified of a mistake with your ballot, check with your local election office for the correct procedure and deadline to cure your ballot.
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 14, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is traveling to Long Island to tour law enforcement facilities in Nassau County and rally support for local Republican candidates ahead of the upcoming midterm elections
Travel Far Enough, You Meet Yourself
Is it possible that our President has simply not traveled enough?
Born and raised in Queens and attending Fordham University in the Bronx, Donald Trump has no record of traveling outside New York until he was over 20, when he transferred to a college in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Were his formative years amiss, then, in his learning about other places and other people?
Is his view akin to the famous New Yorker cover by Saul Steinberg, an illustration of the United States with New York City as the epicenter of the country and the Hudson River the border of the known world? We can now at least add Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago to the map of “the realm.”
Our President has now traveled some, but what we recommend is another kind of travel. Not a state-sponsored trip or a venture to scout locations for future Trump Towers. This would be a genuine travel experience, enriching and eye-opening, showcasing other cultures and ways of living.
It will extend far beyond viewing military parades, hobnobbing with such “understanding” world leaders as Kim Jong Un, or taking tea with the King.
WHERE, then, should the President go? As Elon Musk’s Starship spacecraft is not yet ready to take passengers to Mars, perhaps he could explore our own vast country?
Maybe he could travel to “flyover country,” the farming states, where his ying-yanging tariffs and trade restrictions have played havoc with rural economies. Or possibly to California, number one in homeless U. S. citizens, and while there, regale homeless veterans (approximately 32,500 nationwide) with tales of his brave exploits invading and bombing foreign countries.
Or he might tour the Great Lakes, and rename the other four?
WHEN should he go? This will be tough, as he is very busy building his ballroom and renaming bodies of water.
How about a trip in early November, around the midterm elections? Despite the long-discredited accusation of widespread voter fraud, it would be reassuring to know he might be so caught up divvying out ladles of soup in a soup kitchen somewhere that he wouldn’t remember to deploy the military for “election security.”
HOW will he travel? He should definitely not take his Qatari-donated, newly renovated 747, especially after last time, when he had to be smuggled off clandestinely in a catering truck. It’s unlikely any traveling companions, like the Secretary of State or of the Treasury, are going to fall for the ruse a second time. Besides, we may need those people. No more decoys!
Perhaps the President could fly commercially, although this likely would expose him to undue suffering. Without gold bathroom fixtures and maple wood floors, the trip will be no “Luxury Experience.” If only he still had his “Trump Shuttle,” bought with a massive loan he later defaulted on, saying then, “I’m smart. I got out at a good time.”
Considering the potential pitfalls, maybe it’s best the President travel incognito, disguised perhaps as an elderly woman wearing a lot of bronzer.
Wherever, whenever, however: our President needs a vacation.
Moreover, we need a vacation from him.
If the President refuses our travel suggestions, here’s another idea:
Let’s get him a pet! He has never owned a pet. As we know with our children, pets teach essential life lessons: compassion and empathy; they instill a sense of responsibility. There is a well-established connection between those who can care for a pet and those who can care for people.
So, which pet should we choose? A puppy? A kitten? A boa constrictor?
Imagine, the President may even decide he likes having a pet. After all, what is more obedient than a well-trained dog, besides possibly the Cabinet? And what is more docile than a sweet kitten, other than plausibly the Supreme Court?
The President may even become more mellow with a pet afoot and less likely to slap tariffs on our allies, or attempt to annex our neighbors, or bully our Congress. (Realizing, of course, a bully requires active participation from the bullied to maintain his status.)
Maybe we should do both: get the President a pet and devise a travel plan for him. (Do you think we could possibly convince him to leave his phone at home?)
Let’s go for it! After all:
Travel far enough, you meet yourself. (David Mitchell)
And for our President, that would likely be the most profound discovery of all.
Amy Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."