Pennsylvania appeals court rules (again) that undated vote-by-mail ballots must be counted

Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star

October 30, 2024 4:29 pm


Less than a week before the presidential election, a Pennsylvania court has again ruled that mail-in ballots returned with missing or incorrect dates must be counted.

The decision Wednesday stems from a lawsuit by two Philadelphia voters whose mail ballots in a Sept. 17 special election for a pair of state House seats were disqualified even though they were returned on time. They were among 69 ballots the Philadelphia Board of Elections refused to count because voters did not follow the instructions to write the date on the outside envelopes of their ballots before returning them.

A Philadelphia judge ruled in favor of the voters who are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Public Interest Law Center. The Philadelphia Board of Elections appealed and was joined by the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. In a 3-2 decision, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled that the requirement to date the envelopes is unconstitutional because it denies the right to vote because of minor and inconsequential errors and serves no compelling governmental purpose.

“Pennsylvania voters cannot be disenfranchised for trivial reasons,” Stephen Loney, senior supervising attorney of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said. “The dates written on return envelopes are completely meaningless, and everyone agrees that these ballots are from eligible voters and were timely received. Disqualifying voters for minor errors is a violation of the state constitution, which errs on the side of the voter.”

Read more: https://penncapital-star.com/election-2024/pennsylvania-appeals-court-rules-again-that-undated-vote-by-mail-ballots-must-be-counted/