The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a ruling Tuesday directing county boards of elections to not count absentee and mail-in ballots received during the Nov. 8 election which are undated or have an incorrect date on the outer envelope.
The court also directed election officials to “segregate and preserve” these specific ballots.
The court was divided 3-3 on whether refusing to count the undated or incorrectly-dated ballots violated the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The act states that immaterial errors or omissions on any record or paper related to voting should not be used to deny an individual the right to vote.
According to the court’s ruling, Chief Justice Debra Todd, along with Justices Christine Donohue and David Wecht found that this issue would violate federal law, while Justices Kevin Dougherty, Sallie Updyke Mundy, and P. Kevin Brobson found it would not.
The suit was brought against acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman and all 67 county boards of elections by several individuals, as well as state and national organizations - the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania.
Earlier on Tuesday, Chapman urged Pennsylvanians who are voting by mail to hand-deliver their ballots to their county election office, a drop box, or other designated location as soon as possible, to ensure they arrive by the 8 p.m. deadline on Election Day.
(Original air-date: 11/2/22)
