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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court shut down an effort to permit mail-in ballots missing a handwritten date to be counted in the 2024 election.
The ruling overturns a choice from a Commonwealth Court discovering that the state legislation requiring a handwritten date was unconstitutional. The Pennsylvania GOP appealed that ruling to the state supreme court docket, and now undated mail-in ballots won’t be counted in the upcoming election.
Justice Kevin Dougherty admonished the Commonwealth Court for its ruling in a forcefully-worded opinion referring to Friday’s ruling.
“‘This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election.’ We said those carefully chosen words only weeks ago. Yet they apparently were not heard in the Commonwealth Court, the very court where the bulk of election litigation unfolds,” Dougherty wrote.
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Mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania should comprise a handwritten date for them to be counted in the 2024 election following the state supreme court docket’s ruling. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
“Today’s order, which I join, rights the ship. And it sends a loud message to all courts in this Commonwealth: in declaring we would not countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election, we said what we meant and meant what we said,” he continued.
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Pennsylvania Republicans hailed the Friday ruling, saying Democrats have repeatedly tried to subvert the relationship requirement.
“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the law, and the dated ballot requirement will be in effect for this election. Democrats have repeatedly tried to eliminate this important ballot safeguard, and we have stopped them each time,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley mentioned in a press release. “We are committed to protecting critical ballot safeguards to ensure every ballot is cast and counted properly and will continue to fight across Pennsylvania to Protect the Vote.”
Stickers and a placard supporting US presidential candidate Kamala Harris is displayed exterior the Bucks County Administration constructing voting on demand and ballot drop middle in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on October 31, 2024. (Ed JONES / AFP)
State officers in favor of permitting undated ballots to be counted argue the change would make course of simpler for election staff. The Pennsylvania Department of State filed a short in favor of the change previous to the court docket’s ruling on Friday.
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“The requirement that county boards set aside mail ballots with declaration-date errors — and particularly the requirement that they set aside mail ballot envelopes with ‘incorrect’ dates — imposed a significant burden on county boards. Election workers must manually review every ballot envelope to determine whether it has a ‘correct’ date,” the transient mentioned, in response to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Republicans and Democrats are battling over election insurance policies as Americans head to the polls. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register through Getty Images)
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Friday’s ruling was the second time this month that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has blocked Democrat-backed efforts to dismantle the relationship requirement.
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