Judge Rules Pennsylvania Must Count Postal Ballots with Date Mistakes

Federal District Court Judge Susan Baxter struck down Pennsylvania’s requirement that blocks counting of mail-in and absentee ballots if they have minor errors pertaining to dates.

The law she rejected does not count postal ballots if no date is written on the outermost return envelope or if the date written is incorrect, such as the voter’s birth date. Baxter said the law “directly implicates the right of citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to cast a vote.” Her ruling said Pennsylvania violated the 1st and 14th Amendments “by imposing impermissible burdens on Pennsylvanians’ fundamental right to vote—burdens that are not justified by any state interest.”

The case was brought by three Pennsylvania voters and some organizations which the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Pennsylvania affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.

Defendants are the 67 county boards of elections and some Republican groups which include the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, and Republican Party of Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania state Supreme Court is hearing a separate case about such ballots to consider whether the state Constitution is violated by counting them despite minor date errors.

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