The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out a lower court’s ruling that had allowed the counting of undated mail-in ballots in a Pennsylvania race.
The justices vacated the ruling by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as requested by David Ritter, who lost his 2021 bid for a spot on the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas by five votes after 257 absentee ballots without date notations were counted.
The action means that the ruling cannot be used a precedent in any of the three states covered by the 3rd Circuit – Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware – to allow the counting of ballots with errors such as a voter omitting the date on the return envelope. The vacated ruling does not change the outcome of the race.
The ruling involves a case about just 257 undated mail ballots in last year’s November election. Its impact will be much more considerable.
“In deciding to throw out votes on a technicality, the Supreme Court is essentially denying voters their right to participate in our democracy,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party chair Sharif Street. “We believe that everyone deserves to have their voices heard, and with such an important election ahead of us it is unjust to deny people that right when it matters most.”
“The plain language of the Pennsylvania Election Code and the legislative intent is clear: ballots must be dated,” said Jason Gottesman, House Republican Caucus spokesperson. “Instead of continuing to try to legislate through contradictory and confusing guidance documents and relying on conflicting court opinions, the administration would be better spending its time working on comprehensive Election Code changes that can resolve these sorts of outstanding issues through the normal process and also bring uniformity, accessibility, modernization, and security to our elections.”
The 3rd Circuit had ruled that invalidating the undated ballots would violate a provision of the Civil Rights Act aimed at ensuring that minor ballot errors do not deny someone the right to vote. Although Pennsylvania law currently requires the entry of a date on the outer envelope, the 3rd Circuit found the requirement “immaterial” to determining their qualifications as voters.
In August, Commonwealth Court President Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer denied the preliminary objections of Berks, Fayette and Lancaster County Boards of Elections and directed them to certify the primary election races no later than Wednesday, August 24.
Jubelirer wrote that “the lack of a handwritten date on the declaration on the return envelope of a timely received absentee or mail-ballot does not support excluding those ballots from the Boards’ certified results under both Pennsylvania law and Section 10101(a)(2)(B) of the Civil Rights Act.”
The U.S. Supreme Court in June denied Ritter’s bid to block the counting of the undated ballots. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented from that decision. Alito wrote that the 3rd Circuit ruling “could well affect the outcome” of elections this year.
Ritter told the Supreme Court that unless the 3rd Circuit ruling was wiped off the books, it would allow undated mail-in ballots to be counted in future elections in Pennsylvania and would “threaten to invalidate countless regulations of mail-in voting” nationwide. Pennsylvania Republican legislators echoed Ritter’s warning.
The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
The on-again, off-again decision on counting undated mail-in ballots will again have an effect on Pennsylvania and its crucial U.S. Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz.
Updated to include quotes from Street, Gottesman.
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6 Responses
The ruling didn’t deal with the absence of Election Law to allow voters to come into the Board of Elections to “cure” their Ballots, by adding the date, signing a security envelope or other provisions to fix their Ballot so it can be counted. But as usual Republicans will block any attempt to change Election Law, to assure every voter can cast their ballot and every vote can count. The Republicans want to make it harder to vote, to suppress the vote, and try to do whatever they can to win, by whatever means necessary, including intimidation, and violence. In PA they want to take away, no-excuse mail in ballots, allow only the Republican controlled State Legislature to decide the election outcomes, and select “alternative Electors to the Electoral College.” They want to Gerrymander the boundaries of Congressional and State Legislative Districts so no Democrat can ever win Election. They want Absentee and Mail In Ballot Voters to have a witness and a notary public stamp & signature to vote by mail. And a tougher, more expensive Voter ID law to be enacted. And they are hoping the Supreme Court Decision in the case in November after the Mid-term Elections will decide that State Legislatures alone, with no Judicial Appeal possible under the “state independent legislature theory,” will set these laws and rules in stone. The PA Republicans want to codify the “Green Bay Sweep,” into PA State Election Law. They want the law in PA, to be just like Georgias and Texas’s draconian, anti-democratic and unconstitutional election laws. “Heads, Republicans win and Tails Democrats lose.” That is not a democracy and not fair.
That’s because Ballot Curing is not addressed in PA election law and their is no right listed allowing for it. Once again instead of using the legislature Democrats once again went the route of the courts legislating from the bench.
This is beyond dumb. The dating of a mail in ballot is overruled by a postmark. I could write the date on the ballot September 7th but if the postmark is October 25th the latter date is the official date. Now we have someone not date the mail-in ballot and that is fatal to the vote? It is trying logic on it’s head and asinine.
If you are going to vote by mail follow the rules. It’s that simple. If you can’t then show up and vote.
Okay, Republic Party minion. I guess you don’t have any elderly parents – or do you fill out the ballot for them?
Actually according to the Sec States website postmarks are NOT accepted. Section below is from Set States website and the part is marked with ***
Step 4:
Return your voted ballot to the county election board. Absentee and Mail-in Ballots must be received by 8 pm on election day at your county election board. To ensure your ballot is received by the deadline, return the ballot as soon as possible.
* – You can mail your ballot.
* – Using the return envelope supplied with your ballot, make sure you use the proper postage (if needed) and that it arrives to your county election board by 8 pm on election day. ***Postmarks do not count.*** If your ballot is not received by the county election board by 8 pm on election day, it will not be counted
* – You can hand-deliver your ballot before 8 pm on election day to your:
county election office or other officially designated site.
Some counties are providing drop-boxes for mail ballots.