Pennsylvania Court Reverses Ruling Allowing Misdated Mail-In Ballots

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Friday that mail-in ballots with incorrect or missing dates on the outer envelopes will not be counted in the upcoming November election, overturning a previous ruling from a lower court. The decision marks a significant development in the battleground state ahead of a crucial election season.

At a glance:

• The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that mail-in ballots with incorrect dates will not be counted in the upcoming November election.
• The decision reverses a previous lower court ruling that applied only to Philadelphia and Allegheny counties.
• Republicans hailed the ruling as a victory for election integrity, while the ACLU criticized it for disenfranchising eligible voters.

The previous ruling, issued last month, applied only to Philadelphia and Allegheny counties. The state’s Supreme Court argued that the lower court overstepped its jurisdiction in issuing that decision, ultimately reversing it.

“HUGE election integrity win in Pennsylvania,” GOP Chair Michael Whatley wrote in a post on the social platform X, celebrating the decision as a victory for Republicans concerned about the integrity of the mail-in voting process.

The ruling, however, has drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania. In a press release, the organization referred to misdated ballots as a “common, trivial error on the external envelopes” and expressed concern that eligible voters would be disenfranchised by the court’s decision.

“Today’s procedural ruling is a setback for Pennsylvania voters, but we will keep fighting for them. These eligible voters who got their ballots in on time should have their votes counted and voices heard,” ACLU attorney Steve Loney said. He added, “The fundamental right to vote is among the most precious rights we enjoy as Pennsylvanians, and it should take more than a trivial paperwork error to take it away.”

The ACLU, along with ten other community organizations, had previously sued Pennsylvania State Secretary Al Schmidt (R) and election officials in the two counties affected by the lower court’s ruling. The plaintiffs argued that discarding misdated ballots unfairly penalizes voters for minor mistakes.

Despite the controversy, the court’s ruling will stand unless further legal challenges arise. The decision also comes with a sharp divide among the court’s justices—three of the seven justices dissented against the reversal.

Pennsylvania remains a critical swing state in the upcoming election, with polling data indicating that it could once again be a toss-up. Aggregated data from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ shows Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump by less than 1% in the state.

As the November election approaches, both sides of the political spectrum are expected to continue debating the rules and regulations around mail-in ballots, with Republicans focusing on security and Democrats emphasizing voter accessibility.