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Home News Supreme Court Rejects Appeal On Pennsylvania Mail-In Ballot Date Requirement

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal On Pennsylvania Mail-In Ballot Date Requirement

by Celia

The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Tuesday not to hear an appeal challenging Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot rules, which require voters to write a handwritten date on the outer envelope of their ballot. Civil rights and voting advocacy groups had argued that this rule was unnecessary and led to the disqualification of valid ballots.

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The plaintiffs had appealed a decision from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which had upheld the date requirement. They claimed it violated federal law, which prohibits rejecting ballots due to “non-material” errors that do not affect a person’s eligibility to vote.

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In 2024, the 3rd Circuit acknowledged that the date requirement served no practical purpose in verifying the timeliness of ballots. However, the court ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act applied only to voter registration rules, not to how a voter casts their ballot.

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Pennsylvania has long been a key state in presidential elections. In 2020, Joe Biden narrowly won the state, while in 2016, Donald Trump secured a victory. The rule at issue applies to mail-in voters, who must place their secret ballot in an envelope and include a handwritten date and signature confirming they are eligible to vote.

In 2022, the Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP and other groups sued state officials, arguing that the date requirement violated the Civil Rights Act. They cited the Act’s provision that bans rejecting a ballot due to minor errors or omissions.

A federal judge had initially ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, noting that the date requirement was irrelevant to determining voter eligibility. However, the 3rd Circuit reversed the decision, prompting an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs argued that the rule’s “lack of relevance” led to the disenfranchisement of voters, particularly seniors, as mail-in voting became more widespread. They warned that thousands of legitimate votes were being rejected each election because of this rule.

In defense of the requirement, lawyers for the Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania’s Republican Party argued that the rule was necessary to ensure the integrity of the election process. They asked the Supreme Court to reject the appeal, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding voting procedures.

Despite the plaintiffs’ arguments, the Supreme Court declined to intervene, leaving the 3rd Circuit’s ruling in place.

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