US EditionPennsylvania mail-in ballots don't need accurate envelope dates, federal judge rules
- On Monday, U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter ruled that Pennsylvania's 67 counties cannot invalidate mail-in ballots due to missing or inaccurate handwritten dates on exterior envelopes.
- This decision is the latest development in a long-running legal dispute over a small percentage of votes, and it comes more than two months after the state Supreme Court said it would consider the issue.
- The lawsuit was filed by a voter, Democratic campaign organizations, and a teachers' union, who argued the exterior envelope dates were 'nothing more than a compliance test.'
- Judge Baxter stated that most counties did not argue the exterior dates served an important state interest in regulating elections, and there is no evidence the requirement combats voter fraud, despite arguments from the Republican National Committee and Berks County; more than 10,000 votes were invalidated due to the dating mandate in the 2022 election.
- Baxter determined that the exterior envelope dating mandate violates the U.S. Constitution by impairing the right to vote under the First and Fourteenth amendments, noting the disenfranchisement it causes and concluding that "there is no valid state interest to weigh this against," though a previous decision by her on this issue was reversed on a different matter by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and higher courts have previously blocked lower court decisions deeming such ballots unconstitutional, including the state Supreme Court on November 1.
41 Articles
41 Articles
Pa. mail-in ballots don't need accurate envelope dates, federal judge rules
Election boards in Pennsylvania’s 67 counties may not invalidate mail-in ballots simply because they lack accurate, handwritten dates on their exterior return envelopes, a federal judge ruled Monday. The decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter, the latest in a long-running legal dispute over what is a small percentage of votes cast in the state, was issued more than two months after the state Supreme Court announced it also would c…
Federal judge rules Pa. ballot dating rule violates constitutional right to political expression
Pennsylvania’s requirement for voters to write the date on mail-in ballots infringes on the constitutional right to free expression, a federal judge in western Pennsylvania ruled Monday. The decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Baxter is the latest in a…
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