The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Friday that mail-in ballots with incorrect dates will not be counted in November, a move that could have major implications in the closely divided battleground state.
The ruling overturns a lower court ruling last month that found it unconstitutional to reject postal ballots with missing or incorrect dates.
Ballots in Pennsylvania have bureaucratic requirements has long been the subject of litigationwith the opponents, they defend that they are unnecessarily depriving the voters of the historical requirements of their right to vote. A group of voting rights advocates filed a lawsuit in May to block a provision that would have required election officials to reject incorrectly dated ballots even if they reached the statutory deadline of 8 p.m. on election day. .
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party began working to support the date clause, arguing it was essential to protecting elections. Their appeal against the Commonwealth Court ruling two weeks ago was successful on Friday.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley hailed the decision as a “HUGE election integrity win.” In an article on X.
“This makes mail-in ballots in the Keystone State less susceptible to fraud,” he said. “We will continue to fight and win!”
Attorneys for voting rights groups involved in the lawsuit, including the ACLU and the Public Interest Law Center, said more action in the case is possible because the state Supreme Court ruled that the lower court lacked jurisdiction.
“Today’s procedural decision is a setback for Pennsylvania voters, but we will fight for them. The votes of these eligible voters who received their ballots on time must be counted and their voices heard,” said Steve Loney, attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania. in the statement. “The right to vote is one of the most precious rights we enjoy as Pennsylvanians, and it will take more than a minor paperwork error to take away.”
Pennsylvania has not yet begun sending mail-in ballots to voters because a number of third-party issues are still being litigated in court.
Even a small number of mail-in ballots thrown out because of incorrect or missing dates can have significant consequences in Pennsylvania, a state in which incumbent Joe Biden won by less than 82,000 votes over former President Donald Trump in 2020.
according to VotingA nonpartisan body that focuses on election reporting, more than 4,400 mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania’s most recent primary were rejected because of date problems.
Democrats have used mail-in ballots more than Republicans in recent elections in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
The state, with 19 electoral votes, is again a critical battleground in the presidential race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. It also hosts a contest between Democrat Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick that could be decisive in determining which party controls the Senate.