Four years after bureaucrats tried to usurp the Pennsylvania legislature’s authority by counting ballots that violated state law, a panel of Democrat-appointed judges upheld a state law that says such ballots are invalid.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Wednesday that mail-in ballots that arrive in envelopes with a missing or incorrect date are not valid, overturning a lower court’s decision.
“This is a crucial victory for election integrity and voter confidence in the Keystone State and nationwide,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement. “Pennsylvanians deserve to feel confident in the security of their mail ballots, and this 3rd Circuit ruling roundly rejects unlawful left-wing attempts to count undated or incorrectly dated mail ballots.”
Pennsylvania adopted universal mail-in balloting in 2019, with the law requiring voters to “fill out, date and sign the declaration printed on [the] envelope” before returning their ballot.
During the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterms, “thousands” of voters’ mail-in ballots “did not comply with the date requirement,” either due to incorrect dates or missing dates entirely, according to the ruling. Approximately 10,000 such ballots were rejected during the 2022 midterms.
A panel of judges on the 3rd Circuit had previously ruled the date requirement violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act Materiality Provision, which says voters cannot be denied their right to vote because of a paperwork issue if it is “not material in determining whether such individual is qualified” to vote. But the U.S.
