HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that it is unconstitutional for the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania to throw out mail-in ballots simply because the voter didn’t write an accurate date on the return envelope.
The unanimous decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Pennsylvania to stop throwing out such ballots and upheld the decision earlier this year by a federal judge in Pittsburgh.
In its 55-page opinion, the three-judge panel said it had to weigh the state’s interest in throwing out the ballots against the constitutional right to vote.
The panel wrote that it was “unable to justify” the practice of discarding such ballots “that has resulted in the disqualification of thousands of presumably proper ballots.”
Under Pennsylvania law, voters are required to write the date on the return envelope for their mail ballot. However, thousands of voters, confused by the request to write the date, might skip it or write another date, such as their birth date.
Tuesday’s decision marks the latest instance in at least a half-dozen cases where a court has instructed Pennsylvania to stop rejecting such ballots.
However, higher courts have always reinstated the requirement in the heavily litigated matter that has pitted liberals trying to get rid of the requirement against Republicans who defend it. For Tuesday’s ruling to be reversed, the U.S. Supreme Court would need to take up the issue.
Democrats typically cast more mail-in ballots than Republicans, perhaps a result of President Donald Trump’s demonization of mail-in voting and baseless allegations that it is rife with fraud. As recently as last week, Trump claimed there is “MASSIVE FRAUD” due to mail voting, when in fact voting fraud in the U.S. is rare.
Tuesday’s decision was a victory for the groups that sued, including the American Federation of Teachers and the campaign arms of Democrats in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. They were supported by the Black Political Empowerment Project, Common Cause Pennsylvania, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP, among others.
Opposing the lawsuit were national and state Republican parties, as well as the campaign arm of Republicans in the U.S. House.
