Justices allow counting of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court is allowing elections officials to count mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania that lack a handwritten date but were received in time
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Supreme Court is allowing elections officials to count mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania that lack a handwritten date but were received in time.
The unsigned order Thursday applies to a Lehigh County judicial election from 2021. But Justice Samuel Alito warned in a dissent that the issue could affect the November elections.
Last week, Alito had imposed a temporary hold on counting the ballots to give the justices more time to consider the matter. At the time, former hedge fund CEO David McCormick was locked in a tight contest with celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
McCormick wanted ballots lacking handwritten dates counted in his race too, but he has since conceded to Oz.
The state law requires voters to write a date on the envelope in which they mail in their ballots. However, the handwritten date is not used to determine whether the ballot was cast on time, since the envelope is postmarked by the post office and timestamped by counties when they receive it.
In any case, counties have acknowledged accepting ballots with wrong dates.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had ruled that the state election law’s requirement of a date next to the voter’s signature on the outside of return envelopes was “immaterial” and no reason to throw out such ballots.
Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, wrote that he thinks the 3rd Circuit was “very likely wrong.”