Pennsylvania District Judge David Ridge issued an order Friday affecting 17,000 voters who did not receive mail-in ballots, granting them early in-person voting and new absentee ballots to replace the missing ones.

Erie County Clerk Karen Chilcott laid the blame on a ballot vendor Election IQ who was hired to send out the mail-in ballots to voters who had applied for them. On the other hand, the vendor pointed the finger at the US Postal Service (USPS) alleging a history of late mail during election season. The Erie County Board of Elections, Election IQ, and USPS were all unable to determine the delivery status of the 13,000 to 17,000 ballots. Additionally, the hearing found that at least 365 duplicate ballots with barcodes, corresponded to a separate voter, were sent to voters. Judge Ridge wrote:

After reviewing the pleadings and testimony, and after conducting oral argument, the Court believes that the specific rulings set forth below provide the appropriate remedy and relief in an attempt to ensure all registered voters who did comply with the requirements for mail-in ballots are given full opportunity to complete their right to vote, and also ensure that each individual’s vote will only be counted once.

The order extended early voting for the four days running up to Election Day and ordered the Board of Elections to send new ballots to out-of-state voters who had properly applied for the ballots. The judge also granted voters who had received duplicate ballots the “opportunity to cancel any previous ballot cast in their name by submitting a new ballot to the [Board of Elections].”

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party had sued the Erie County Board of Elections on Wednesday seeking emergency relief for voters who had not received their mail-in ballots.

The US Supreme Court recently rejected a Republican Party request to stay a state Supreme Court decision in Pennsylvania concerning voters’ ability to correct defective ballots with an in-person provisional ballot.