PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently announced that misdated or undated mail-in ballots will not be counted in the upcoming election.
It's just two weeks after the Commonwealth Court ruled in favor of nonpartisan community organizations to end the disqualification of mail-in ballots with incorrect or ineligible dates on envelopes.
The narrow decision vacates a lower court ruling to count mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect handwritten dates.
Marian Schneider with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania says the decision is a setback for voters.
“There have been many other cases under statutory construction claims, under Pennsylvania election code, and also under the federal Civil Rights Act that had also challenged the same provision, but this was the first case that challenged the constitutionality of that provision,” Schneider said.
In May, several nonpartisan groups led by the Black Political Empowerment Project sued election boards in Allegheny and Philadelphia Counties as well as Secretary of State Al Schmidt.
The suit argued that disqualifying ballots violates protections under the Pennsylvania constitution.
The State Supreme Court vacated the case because the lawsuit failed to name all 67 Pennsylvania counties as defendants.
“It was vacated on procedural grounds alone; the state supreme court did not address any of the merits of our claim at all,” Schneider said.
The groups who filed the suit say the decision could put thousands of voters at risk of having their ballots rejected in November.
“Before these decisions came down in August and September, counties were not permitted to count ballots that were missing a date or had a date deemed incorrect and that is still the law in Pennsylvania, so there’s really no change there, and the second thing is we’re considering what the next steps might be,” Schneider said.
FOX43 reached out to the Department of State for comment.
“Friday’s decision is disappointing and leaves unanswered the important question of whether the dating requirement violates the Pennsylvania Constitution, as the Commonwealth Court found. The Department hopes that this question is answered as soon as possible, for the sake of the voters and our county election administrators preparing for the upcoming presidential election,” a spokesperson responded.
FOX43 also reached out to the State Supreme Court to learn what other factors might’ve led to the decision.
A spokesperson responded by saying, “The court’s opinion speaks for itself.”
Two Democrats joined both Republicans on the Supreme Court decision to vacate the lower court ruling.
The election offices in York, Lebanon, Lancaster, and Adams Counties were also contacted.
The elections and voter registration director with Adams County said it’s too soon to comment.