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What is Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot dating rule?

Mar 29, 2024 12:25 AM IST

The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a previous lower court ruling, making it mandatory for mail-in ballot envelopes to be dated in Pennsylvania.

Overruling a previous lower court ruling on Monday, a federal appeals court panel said that undated Pennsylvania mail-in ballots should not be counted regardless of their arrival at the election office on time.

FILE - A Delaware County secured drop box for the return of vote-by-mail ballots is pictured, May 2, 2022, in Newtown Square, Pa. An exterior envelope date requirement in Pennsylvania's mail-in voting system does not run afoul of a civil rights law, a federal appeals court panel said Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in overturning a lower-court ruling. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)(AP)
FILE - A Delaware County secured drop box for the return of vote-by-mail ballots is pictured, May 2, 2022, in Newtown Square, Pa. An exterior envelope date requirement in Pennsylvania's mail-in voting system does not run afoul of a civil rights law, a federal appeals court panel said Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in overturning a lower-court ruling. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)(AP)

A 2-1 ruling of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the enforcement of dated return envelopes, addressing a battle that began in 2020. The potential US Supreme Court clash will work out an essential deciding factor for the upcoming presidential elections slated for the fall. The emerging technical mandate rendered over ten thousand votes invalid in the 2022 election.

Even though the US state may seem to bring in a relatively small number in the larger scheme of things during the electorate war, the recent ruling has spotlighted Pennsylvania significantly. What does this mean in the bigger picture?

What is the Pennsylvania mail-in ballot dating rule?

In November 2023, a lower court ruled that even mail-in ballots without proper dates should be counted if arriving at the election office in time. US District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter declared the envelope date inconsequential when deciding whether the voter was disqualified.

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The 1964 Civil Rights Act inspired the previous ruling. One of its voting rights prohibits officials from denying “the right of any individual to vote in any Federal election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting.”

However, during the Wednesday ruling, Judge Thomas Ambro claimed this section was irrelevant to broad ballot-casting rules. He stated that it is “concerned only with the process of determining a voter’s eligibility to cast a ballot.”

He ultimately declared that the Pennsylvania General Assembly had decided that voters must date the return envelope of their ballot “to make their vote effective.” Since the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania “unanimously” credited this as a mandatory requisite, “failure to comply renders a ballot invalid under Pennsylvania law.”

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Contradicting the Supreme Court ruling, Ari Savitzky, American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania Voting Rights Project lawyer, expressed the union's collective ‘strong disagreement’ with the conclusion. Mike Lee, ACLU's executive director in Pennsylvania, also voiced his concerns about thousands of the state residents losing their vote “over a meaningless paperwork error.”

The 2019 Act 77 popularised the voting-by-mail option, but incorrectly filled-out ballots have been a red flag for rising debates ever since. To effectively rise above the legal disputes, Pennsylvania redesigned the mail-in ballots in 2023 for the upcoming 2024 primary. These revised ballots are expected to roll out in 67 counties and hope to actively remind voters to date their envelopes under their signatures.

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Read breaking news, latest updates from United States on topics related to politics, crime, along with national affairs. Stay up to date with news developments on Kamala Harris, Donald Trump,and Joe Biden along with Super Bowl 2025 Live Updates.
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