The court responded to a lawsuit by Republican organizations asking that mail-in votes not be counted if they have an error in the date
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered that boards of elections not count in the November election general election ballots that are mailed in undated or incorrectly dated envelopes, according to CNN.
“We hereby order that Pennsylvania county boards of elections segregate and preserve ballots contained in undated or incorrectly dated outer envelopes,” the court said in an order issued Tuesday in response to a lawsuit by the Republican National Committee, the Committee of the Republican Congress and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania requires voters to sign and date the outer envelope when they mail a ballot, a practice that applies in other states as well.
The court acknowledged that it was “evenly divided” on whether failing to count undated or incorrectly dated ballots qualifies as a violation of federal election law. Three judges said they would find a violation of the federal law, while three judges said they would find no violation.
The case is the result of a lawsuit filed by state and national Republicans last month that alleges Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of state was circumventing the General Assembly by telling county boards to count returned ballots in a timely manner, but without a dated envelope.
CNN said it has contacted the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Secretary’s office but has not received comment from him.
The two-page order did not provide any details about the justices’ reasoning, saying only that opinions would be released later. The ruling was 3-3, since there is a vacant position in the state Supreme Court.
“This ruling is a huge victory for Pennsylvania voters and the rule of law,” RNC President Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “Republicans went to court, and now Democrats and every county must follow the law – this is a milestone in ongoing efforts by Republicans to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat in Pennsylvania and across the country. ”.
Pennsylvania doesn’t start processing mail-in ballots until Election Day.