Republicans press Pennsylvania Supreme Court to block counting of undated mail ballots
National and state Republicans asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Sunday to exercise its rare “King’s Bench” authority to block undated mail ballots cast in the midterm elections.
Pennsylvania requires voters to write the date on their ballot envelope under state law, but the requirement has been the subject of legal challenges amid battles over mail-in voting and unfounded claims of mass electoral fraud since the 2020 presidential election.
The outcome of the new case could have profound effects on November’s midterm elections, with Pennsylvania’s Senate race seen as a key battleground contest for control of the chamber in addition to a close gubernatorial race.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week vacated a May appeals court ruling that instructed election officials to count mail-in ballots without the written date that arrived before the deadline in a 2021 judge race.
Sunday’s petition to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court — which was filed by a group of voters alongside the Republican National Committee, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and the National Republican Congressional Committee — asks the court to declare the date requirement mandatory and order counties to separate undated ballots.
“Any counting of ballots that the General Assembly has declared invalid — and the lack of statewide uniformity in the treatment of undated or incorrectly dated ballots — are eroding public trust and confidence in the integrity of Pennsylvania’s elections at a vital moment in the Nation’s and the Commonwealth’s history,” the petition states.
The petition asks the court to exercise its King’s Bench power, referring to the court’s authority to skip the lower courts and immediately address an issue of immediate public importance. The power is rarely used but has been leveraged for election cases before.
The petitioners argued the urgency of the upcoming midterm elections necessitates the court to immediately intervene without waiting on lower courts.
“The time for the Court to act is now,” the petition states. “The validity of undated absentee and mail-in ballots already led to one costly and unnecessary election challenge earlier this year.”
The federal appeals court’s May order, which was declared moot by the Supreme Court, found the date requirement violated federal civil rights law.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits officials from denying individuals the right to vote because of errors that are “not material” in determining if they are qualified.
The petitioners on Sunday contested the appeals court’s ruling, arguing that the provision does not extend to state rules on filling out a ballot and relates only to determining the person’s overall right to vote.
“The date requirement has nothing to do with whether the individual satisfies the four qualifications to vote in Pennsylvania,” the petition states.
The Republicans also argued that guidance from the acting secretary of the commonwealth contradicts state law and is therefore invalid because the Constitution grants state legislatures the authority to determine election rules.
2024 Election Coverage
“The conflict is obvious: the Acting Secretary’s guidance instructs county boards of elections to count ballots that the General Assembly has mandated may not be counted. The guidance is therefore unlawful for that reason alone,” the petition states.
A spokesperson for the acting secretary declined to comment on the suit.
This story was updated at 5:56 p.m.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
