Pennsylvania appeals court says dating requirement for mail ballot envelopes violates state Constitution

By Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) — A Pennsylvania appeals court said Wednesday the requirement that mail-in voters handwrite the correct date on their ballot violates the state Constitution, but it is not yet clear how the ruling will apply going forward.

The ruling comes in a dispute over ballots that were rejected in a previous election in Philadelphia. Voting rights advocates have filed several lawsuits trying to strike down the dating requirement, including a case pending at the US Supreme Court that will not be resolved before the election. It may take additional proceedings to determine whether the new appeals court ruling will apply statewide in Tuesday’s election.

Voters are instructed to write the date on which they filled out the ballot. However, the requirement has led to the rejection of thousands of ballots in past elections, as voters sometimes put their birthdate or other incorrect dates, or forget to date the ballot envelope altogether.

“Enforcement of the dating provisions has resulted in the arbitrary and baseless rejection of thousands of timely ballots, resulting in disenfranchisement in violation of the free and equal elections clause,” the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania said in its ruling Wednesday.

Republican sources did not immediately respond to CNN’s inquiry as to whether they will seek to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, as they have done in other cases where mail ballot rules have been loosened.

Voting rights groups cheered the ruling but noted that there may be more to be sorted regarding whether the requirement will apply in the current election.

“Because today’s decision may not be the last word on this issue, we still advise voters to date their return envelope, take any opportunity they have to cure mistakes, or vote provisionally on election day if they made a mistake on the envelope date,” Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center, said in a statement.

Pennsylvania has been the site of protracted litigation over its mail ballot rules. Another case – concerning whether counties should count provisional votes cast in-person by those who had their mail ballots rejected for technical defects, including an incorrect date – is at the US Supreme Court on emergency appeal.

Because elections are administered at the county level, and because of the ever-changing legal landscape, it’s hard to gauge the impact of any single ruling involving mail balloting policies in the state. Many Pennsylvania counties – including some of its largest counties – offer mail voters the opportunity to “cure” their ballots that have technical defects that would prompt the ballots’ disqualification.

Election officials recently redesigned ballot envelope in the hopes that it would cut down on voters putting the wrong date – such as their birthdate – on the envelope.

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