The Pennsylvania Supreme Court docket dominated Friday that mail-in ballots with out the proper dates on envelopes can’t be counted in elections, a call which might show essential on this yr’s presidential election the place 19 electoral faculty votes are up for grabs.
The state’s excessive courtroom dominated on procedural grounds, saying a decrease courtroom that discovered the mandate unenforceable shouldn’t have taken up the case as a result of it didn’t draw within the election boards in all 67 counties. Left-leaning teams that filed the case solely sued two of them, Philadelphia and Allegheny counties.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court docket mentioned the decrease Commonwealth Court docket “lacked material jurisdiction to assessment the matter,” based on a courtroom submitting.
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An election employee flattens ballots through the 2024 Pennsylvania main election on the Metropolis of Philadelphia’s Election Warehouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 23, 2024. The Pennsylvania Supreme courtroom dominated Friday that mail-in ballots with out the proper dates on envelopes can’t be counted in elections, a call which might show essential on this yr’s presidential election. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures)
Commonwealth Court docket two weeks in the past halted enforcement of the handwritten dates on exterior envelopes. Friday’s ruling now means mail-in ballots have to be correctly dated to be able to be counted enforceable.
The ruling was welcomed by Republicans as a victory for voter integrity within the hotly contested state, whereas voting rights advocates together with the American Civil Liberties Union mentioned they may have a look at pursuing further authorized choices.
President Joe Biden received the state by greater than 80,000 votes in 2020, and former President Trump and Vice-President Harris have been campaigning within the Keystone State this week.
Over 800,000 folks requested mail ballots for April’s main election the place officers disqualified practically 16,000 mail-in ballots for irregularities. Nearly half have been disqualified due to points comparable to lacking signatures and improper dates on outer envelopes, based on the New York Instances. About 75% of the mail-in ballots requested have been made by Democrats.
Round 2.5 million Pennsylvanians voted by mail in 2020, based on a lawsuit filed by Republicans within the aftermath of the election which sought to declare common mail-in voting unconstitutional.
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Former President Trump and Vice-President Harris have been campaigning closely within the Keystone State. (Left: (Photograph by SAUL LOEB/AFP through Getty Pictures), Proper: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures)
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley mentioned the Friday ruling was a “big” win for election integrity.
“Following authorized motion from the RNC and @PAGOP [Republican Party of Pennsylvania], the PA Supreme Court docket REJECTED a Democrat try and depend undated ballots,” Whatley wrote. “This makes mail voting within the Keystone State much less inclined to fraud. We’ll maintain preventing and profitable!”
Steve Loney, the senior supervising lawyer for the ACLU in Pennsylvania, mentioned the ruling was a setback for Pennsylvania voters.
“These eligible voters who acquired their ballots in on time ought to have their votes counted and voices heard,” Loney mentioned. “The basic proper to vote is among the many most treasured rights we take pleasure in as Pennsylvanians, and it ought to take greater than a trivial paperwork error to take it away.”
The justices dominated 4-3, with two Democrats becoming a member of each Republicans on the Supreme Court docket to vacate the Commonwealth Court docket resolution.
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RNC Chairman Michael Whatley mentioned the Friday ruling was a “big” win for election integrity. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
The dissent by three different Democratic justices mentioned the excessive courtroom ought to have taken up the dispute.
“A immediate and definitive ruling on the constitutional query introduced on this enchantment is of paramount public significance inasmuch as it’ll have an effect on the counting of ballots within the upcoming normal election,” wrote Justice David Wecht. He and the 2 different dissenters would have dominated on the matter primarily based on written briefs.
Previous to the 2020 election, Republicans sought to forestall mail-in ballots acquired after election day from being counted, however in the end, the Supreme Court docket sided with the Pennsylvania Supreme courtroom resolution permitting ballots to be counted in the event that they have been acquired inside three days of election day, even when they didn’t have a legible postmark.
The Related Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
