In a pivotal ruling that could affect thousands of votes in the upcoming November election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared that mail ballots must have a correctly dated envelope to be counted. This decision overturns a previous ruling by the Commonwealth Court, which had argued that enforcing the dating requirement infringed on voters’ rights under the state constitution.
The Supreme Court’s decision was narrowly reached with a 4-3 vote, focusing on procedural grounds rather than the constitutional aspects of the case. The justices ruled that the Commonwealth Court lacked jurisdiction because the original lawsuit did not include all 67 county election boards, which are necessary to challenge statewide election procedures. The case, initially filed by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the Public Interest Law Center, had only named the Pennsylvania Department of State, Allegheny County, and Philadelphia as defendants.
NBC News writes that The bureaucratic requirements of ballots in Pennsylvania have long been the subject of litigation, with opponents of the date requirements arguing that they unnecessarily disenfranchise eligible voters. A group of voting rights advocates went to court in May seeking to block the provision, which required election officials to reject ballots that were incorrectly dated, even if the ballot reached them by the statutory deadline of 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party stepped in to support the date provision, arguing it was important to protect elections. Their appeal of the Commonwealth Court’s ruling from two weeks ago was successful on Friday.
Attorneys with the voting rights groups involved in the lawsuit, including the ACLU and the Public Interest Law Center, said because the state Supreme Court ruled the lower court lacked jurisdiction, more action on the case was possible.
“Today’s procedural ruling is a setback for Pennsylvania voters, but we will keep fighting for them. These eligible voters who got their ballots in on time should have their votes counted and voices heard,” Steve Loney, an attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. “The fundamental right to vote is among the most precious rights we enjoy as Pennsylvanians, and it should take more than a trivial paperwork error to take it away.”
In his dissent, Justice David Wecht urged the court to address the constitutional issues directly and swiftly due to the approaching election. He noted the ongoing challenges to the date requirement, including a potential appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on federal grounds, and suggested that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court use its “King’s bench” authority to resolve the matter conclusively.
The controversy over ballot dating is part of broader legal disputes surrounding Pennsylvania’s mail voting law, Act 77, which has faced multiple challenges since its implementation in 2020. Act 77 requires voters to sign and date the return envelope of their mail ballots and use a secrecy envelope, or risk their votes being discarded.
These ongoing legal battles highlight the high stakes of this November’s election in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state where even minor changes to voting rules could influence the outcome.
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