PA Supreme Court says mail-in ballots with missing or wrong dates cannot be tallied

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday once again declared that mail ballots returned with missing or incorrect dates will not be counted. 

The Republican National Committee filed an emergency appeal to ensure that officials do not leverage the decision by a lower court finding such disqualifications violate the state constitution, according to KRON4.

The 3-2 ruling concerned 69 misdated and undated ballots in a September special election. That election’s result was not in doubt either way, though Republicans raised concerns that the decision adds uncertainty in the deals leading to the presidential election, where thousands of ballots could be at stake in the must-win battleground state.

The court’s unsigned order says that the lower ruling “shall not be applied to the November 5, 2024 General election."

Justice Kevin Dougherty wrote in a concurring opinion that he condemned the lower court's ruling, saying that they “repeatedly have taken the bait” despite past warnings.

“To reiterate the point once more: we said what we meant, and we meant what we said. Moving forward, lower courts should think twice — maybe even three times — before granting relief that could arguably be construed as imposing ‘substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election,’” Dougherty wrote. 

Justice Christine Donohue, joined by Chief Justice Debra Todd, spoke against Dougherty, saying that there was no need to “berate” lower courts.  

“In my view, chastising both interested parties for bringing challenges to the application of the Election Code in a completed election and the courts of common pleas and intermediate appellate court for deciding such cases is unwarranted and blind to the recurring nature of election cycles in our Commonwealth,” Donohue wrote in a concurring opinion.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court holds a Democrat majority.

Republicans have pushed to exclude undated and misdated ballots from being counted in Pennsylvania, asserting that state law mandates a correct date on mail-in ballots.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has countered, arguing that the requirement is unnecessary since mail ballots are already time-stamped when received by election officials. This stance is supported by Pennsylvania’s Republican secretary of state.

The state’s Supreme Court’s ruling marks no change in the status quo. The court had previously rejected on procedural grounds a bid to count faulty ballots.

However, the DNC and the two voters who initiated the recent lawsuit cautioned that the matter could resurface in court through post-election litigation. They urged the court to use this latest case to definitively rule on the constitutionality of the ballot disqualification before Election Day, but the justices chose not to take that step.