Pennsylvania high court asked to keep counties from tossing ballots lacking a date

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Left-leaning groups and voting rights advocates asked Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Wednesday to stop counties from throwing out what could be thousands of mail-in ballots in November’s election in a battleground state that’s expected to play a critical role in picking the next president.

The lawsuit, filed directly to the state’s highest court, is the latest attempt by the groups to ensure counties don’t reject mail-in ballots that have an incorrect or missing date on the ballot envelope.

The suit was filed six weeks before the presidential contest and comes as mail-in voting is just beginning in the state. It is at least the third election-related case now pending before the state Supreme Court.

Pennsylvania law states voters must date and sign their mail-in ballot. Voters not understanding that provision has meant that tens of thousands of ballots lacked an accurate date since Pennsylvania dramatically expanded mail-in voting in a 2019 law.

But the lawsuit’s plaintiffs contend that multiple courts have found that a voter-written date is meaningless in determining whether the ballot arrived on time or whether the voter is eligible. As a result, rejecting someone’s ballot either because it lacks a date or a correct date should violate the Pennsylvania Constitution’s free and equal elections clause, the plaintiffs said.

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