Pennsylvania mail-in ballots with flawed dates on envelopes can be thrown out, court rules

Pennsylvania voters could have their mail-in ballots thrown out if they do not write accurate dates on envelopes they use to return them under a state Supreme Court ruling issued Friday that could impact the presidential race.

Pennsylvania voters could have their mail-in ballots thrown out if they do not write accurate dates on envelopes they use to return them under a state Supreme Court ruling issued Friday that could impact the presidential race. The state’s high court ruled on procedural grounds, saying a lower court that found the mandate unenforceable should not have taken up the case because it did not draw in the election boards in all 67 counties. Counties administer the nuts and bolts of elections in Pennsylvania, but the left-leaning groups that filed the case only sued two of them, Philadelphia and Allegheny counties. Commonwealth Court two weeks ago had halted enforcement of the handwritten dates on exterior envelopes. The Supreme Court’s reversal of that decision raises the prospect that thousands of ballots that arrive in time might get thrown out in a key swing state during what is expected to be a close presidential contest. Far more Democrats than Republicans vote by mail in Pennsylvania. In recent elections, older voters have been disproportionately more likely to have had their mail-in ballots invalidated because of exterior envelope date problems. The justices ruled 4-3, with two Democrats joining both Republicans on the Supreme Court to vacate the Commonwealth Court decision. The dissent by three other Democratic justices said the high court should have taken up the dispute.