Pennsylvania Supreme Court Drops Big Ruling On Mail-In Ballots
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court made a significant ruling on Friday, overturning a lower court's decision and declaring that mail-in ballots with incorrect or missing dates on their outer envelopes cannot be counted. This was seen as a major victory for those advocating for election integrity.
In a close 4-3 decision, the state's highest court ruled that the lower court had overstepped because it lacked jurisdiction, having only involved two counties—Philadelphia and Allegheny—while Pennsylvania’s election administration is handled by all 67 counties, according to The Associated Press. The left-leaning groups had not included all the counties in the lawsuit.
Previously, the Commonwealth Court had stopped the requirement for handwritten dates on ballot envelopes. The Supreme Court’s reversal now raises the potential for thousands of timely-arriving ballots to be disqualified in the key swing state, which could have a significant impact on the outcome of an intensely competitive presidential election. Historically, more Democrats use mail-in voting in Pennsylvania than Republicans.
Republican organizations, which appealed the earlier decision, hailed this as a win for electoral transparency. It was also seen as a positive outcome for former President Donald Trump, who narrowly lost Pennsylvania to Joe Biden in 2020.
In a statement, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley called the decision a "major victory for election integrity" that would "protect commonsense mail ballot safeguards and help voters cast their ballots with confidence."
However, lawyers representing the ten left-leaning groups that initiated the lawsuit noted that the ruling still allowed for future legal challenges on the matter.
Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia, expressed concern, stating, "Thousands of voters are at risk of having their ballots rejected in November for making a meaningless mistake." She urged voters to follow the guidelines for mail-in ballot submission carefully to avoid disqualification over minor paperwork errors.
Two Democratic and two Republican appointees on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court came together to issue this ruling.
The lawsuit, filed in May, contested the enforceability of the requirement based on the state’s constitutional guarantee that elections must be "free and equal," as reported by the AP.
In recent elections, Pennsylvania has disqualified over 10,000 ballots due to missing or inaccurate envelope dates. This issue is particularly pressing, as the state’s 19 electoral votes are crucial in the presidential election, making it one of the most significant swing states.
Historically, ballots have been rejected in Pennsylvania for having no dates or incorrect ones, such as future dates or dates from before the mail-in ballots were printed. While state law mandates that dates must be on envelopes, election officials don’t use those dates to verify ballot timeliness. Instead, ballots are logged, time-stamped upon receipt, and must arrive at county election offices before the polls close on Election Day, as reported by the AP.
In related news, GOP Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin recently issued a sweeping executive order mandating that all ballots in the 2024 presidential election be on paper—a move praised by former President Trump.
Youngkin took an important step by signing Executive Order 35, reinforcing his administration's election security protocols for all future elections, as noted by local Fox5.
Though Virginia has favored Democratic presidential candidates in recent years, Youngkin, a Republican, was elected in 2022, along with Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and state Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Youngkin remarked, "The Virginia model for Election Security works. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s an American and Virginian issue. Every legal vote deserves to be counted without being watered down by illegal votes or inaccurate machines. In Virginia, we don’t play games and our model for election security is working."