The Pennsylvania Supreme Court shut down an effort to allow mail-in ballots lacking a handwritten date to be counted in the 2024 election.
The Pennsylvania GOP appealed that ruling to the state supreme court, and now undated mail-in ballots will not be counted in the upcoming election.
Yet they apparently were not heard in the Commonwealth Court, the very court where the bulk of election litigation unfolds,” Dougherty wrote.
26 REPUBLICAN ATTORNEYS GENERAL JOIN VIRGINIA IN PETITIONING SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON VOTER ROLL “Today’s order, which I join, rights the ship.
“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the law, and the dated ballot requirement will be in effect for this election.
In the 2024 election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court blocked a move to permit the counting of mail-in ballots without a handwritten date.
The Commonwealth Court’s decision that the state law requiring a handwritten date was unconstitutional is overturned by the ruling. Due to an appeal by the Pennsylvania GOP to the state supreme court, undated mail-in ballots will not be counted in the next election.
In a strongly worded opinion regarding Friday’s decision, Justice Kevin Dougherty chastised the Commonwealth Court for its decision.
“While an election is still in progress, this Court will neither enforce nor approve significant changes to current laws and procedures. Only a few weeks ago, we uttered those well-chosen words. However, it appears that they were not heard in the Commonwealth Court, which is where the majority of election-related cases are heard,” Dougherty wrote.
In their petition to the Supreme Court for a ruling on voter roll, 26 Republican attorneys from across the country join Virginia.
“I joined the order today, which corrects the ship. He added, “And it sends a loud message to all courts in this Commonwealth: we said what we meant and meant what we said when we declared that we would not tolerate significant changes to current laws and procedures while an election was still in progress.
appeals the court’s decision against the GOP in the case that challenges 225K North Carolina voter registrations.
Pennsylvania Republicans applauded the decision on Friday, claiming that Democrats have attempted to undermine the dating requirement on numerous occasions.
The dated ballot requirement will be in place for this election after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the law. In a statement, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said, “We have thwarted Democrats’ repeated attempts to remove this crucial ballot protection. The fight to Protect the Vote will continue throughout Pennsylvania, and we are dedicated to preserving important ballot safeguards to guarantee that every ballot is cast and counted correctly. “..”.
Proponents of allowing undated ballots to be counted in the state contend that doing so would simplify the process for election workers. Before the court’s decision on Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of State submitted a brief supporting the modification.
Residents of the nation do not currently comprise the 1 point 6 million voters who could decide the US election.
A major burden was placed on county boards by the requirement that they set aside mail ballots with declaration-date errors, and in particular, mail ballot envelopes with “incorrect” dates. Election officials have to manually check each ballot envelope to see if it contains the “correct” date, the brief stated, as reported by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
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