Why some ballots were rejected last month | Morning Newsletter

It feels like summertime, with mostly sunny skies and a high near 84. Unfortunately, there’s also some widespread haze from wildfires in Canada. Philadelphia declared a “code red” air quality warning through today, so beware of the health risks.

Tens of thousands of mail ballots are likely to be rejected in next year’s presidential election. Today’s lead story looks at the biggest reasons, including “undated mail ballots” — which were accepted in 2020.

— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

🎤 I’m passing the mic to my colleague Leo Cassel-Siskind, an intern on our data-driven storytelling desk.

More than 5% of mail ballots in Philadelphia were rejected last month. That number really stood out when the team was looking at the results from the primary election.

That’s a lot of votes. And it’s in line with other recent elections, meaning tens of thousands of Pennsylvania votes will be thrown out in next year’s presidential election.

I wanted to better understand those rejections — whose votes are at particular risk for being rejected and why?

We’ve started to get a clearer sense of the numbers since mail voting was dramatically expanded in 2020. Here are some things we found about this election in Philly:

🗳️ One out of every three to four votes in recent elections is cast by mail, and nearly all mail voters have voted by mail in a previous election.

🗳️ Older voters are significantly more likely to vote by mail than younger voters. They are also disproportionately likely to have their votes thrown out.

🗳️ Whiter, higher-income, better-educated neighborhoods have higher mail voting rates than other neighborhoods but have lower rejection rates.

🗳️ People who are new to voting by mail and who are less frequent voters are also particularly likely to make errors that lead their votes to be thrown out.

Continue reading about voting behavior and how it can greatly impact a tightly contested swing state like Pennsylvania.

If you were a model or actor looking to jumpstart your career in Philadelphia in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there was one person you would go to: Milton Perry, the photographer.

Perry knew how to make people feel comfortable in front of the camera. His signature headshots would capture people in the best possible light.

In his own words: “I just had a natural affinity to capture [people], to make people look good, to capture beauty. I see the flaws, but I eliminate the flaws when I shoot in my mind and project [that] through the camera. ... I don’t want to make it sound like it’s some kind of mysterious thing, but that was the process.”

Earlier this year, he shared that he had been diagnosed with cancer. A few weeks ago, Perry, now 79, posted another health update — the cancer had spread throughout his body.

That post received over 600 comments, full of well wishes and gratitude to Perry for his friendship and his work. People started posting their old headshots that he took, sharing how they were instrumental to their careers in modeling and entertainment.

Continue reading about the community giving this renowned photographer his flowers.

These two country music stars both proclaimed their love for the Philadelphia Eagles last weekend in separate on-stage events.

A) Walker Hayes and Carrie Underwood

B) Brett Young and Blake Shelton

C) Maren Morris and Kenny Chesney

D) Luke Bryan and Zach Bryan

Think you know? Check your answer.

😋 Tasting: 24 of our favorite fried chicken sandwiches in the Philly area.

🚽 Pondering: What to name Philly’s new public potties.

Hint: It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s ... the new Superman! (He’s from Philly.)

COWARD INVESTED

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Patricia Lersch, who correctly guessed Wednesday’s answer: Ryan Seacrest.

I’ll leave you with this quote from writer and psychotherapist Sara Kuburic: “Any mistake can become a lesson if you’re willing to learn from it.” Make this Friday Jr. count. ☀️