The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday barring any undated or improperly dated absentee ballots from being counted in the upcoming midterm elections, something Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel described as a “massive” legal victory.
“The Pennsylvania county boards of elections are hereby ORDERED to refrain from counting any absentee and mail-in ballots received for the November 8, 2022 general election that are contained in undated or incorrectly dated outer envelopes,” the decision reads.
The per curiam decision states that the court is evenly divided on the matter of such ballots violating the Constitution.
They have ordered the ballots to be set aside and preserved by the county boards of elections.
Pennsylvania counties must segregate and not count mail ballots with missing or incorrect dates, the state Supreme Court said Tuesday, in a ruling that could affect thousands of votes in November’s midterm elections.https://t.co/UrND917x8J
— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) November 1, 2022
Pennsylvania Supreme Court: No Undated Ballots
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed last month by the RNC, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Pennsylvania GOP arguing Pennsylvania is violating state law and a Supreme Court ruling by saying it would count undated absentee ballots.
It will be fascinating to watch leftists decree the major decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as racist, because in their minds only minorities would cast undated or improperly dated ballots.
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The three justices who ruled that counting such ballots would be a violation of federal law, however, were all Democrats.
McDaniel celebrated the legal victory on social media, describing it as “a massive election integrity win in Pennsylvania.”
“The PA Supreme Court agrees with us that incorrectly or undated mail ballots can not be counted in next week’s elections,” the chairwoman added. “Republicans went to court. Now Democrats have to follow the law.”
The @GOP, @NRCC, & @PAGOP just secured a MASSIVE election integrity win in Pennsylvania.
The PA Supreme Court agrees with us that incorrectly or undated mail ballots can not be counted in next week’s elections.
Republicans went to court. Now Democrats have to follow the law.
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) November 1, 2022
RELATED: Clarence Thomas: ‘Citizens Deserve Better’ Than Supreme Court Refusing To Hear PA Election Case
Restoring Some Voter Confidence
A case was made by The Political Insider to ban early voting – not absentee voting – following news that well over 600,000 votes had been cast in the Pennsylvania Senate election before voters had a chance to see Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman’s “painful” debate performance.
Voters in the state are not required to give an excuse to attain a mail-in ballot and some counties were sending out ballots in late September and earlier this month.
If ballots can’t be filled out correctly with basic information though, it seems just to have them set aside as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered.
The Keystone State’s election procedures have long been a source of angst for election integrity advocates.
Important thread on what the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision means. 👇👇👇 https://t.co/b1FP64kfnR
— Rusty 🎙️ (@rustyweiss74) November 2, 2022
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, writing in his dissent to a 2021 decision not to hear a challenge to the Pennsylvania mail-in voting procedures, claimed the institution had invited an “erosion of voter confidence.”
The challenge was against the Pennsylvania state court’s ruling that permitted ballots to be counted up to three days after Election Day.
A Pennsylvania court ruled in January that the critical battleground state’s mail-in voting law was unconstitutional. That ruling was overturned by the state Supreme Court in August.
The law, known as Act 77, permits no-excuse absentee voting, created a permanent mail-in voter list, and reduced the voter registration deadline from 30 days to 15.
Behind the scenes, a key ally says former President Donald Trump is encouraging state lawmakers in Pennsylvania to repeal Act 77, the law that allows all voters in the state to cast ballots by mail. https://t.co/hWpSInm6Cp
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 24, 2022
Aside from some voters struggling with getting the date right on their absentee ballots, Vice President Kamala Harris last summer argued against voter ID laws, suggesting people in rural areas like Pennsylvania would have trouble making photocopies of their information.
“I don’t think that we should underestimate what that [compromise on voter ID laws] could mean,” she said.
“Because in some people’s mind, that means you’re going to have to Xerox or photocopy your ID to send it in to prove who you are,” Harris added.
“Well, there are a whole lot of people, especially people who live in rural communities, who don’t – there’s no Kinkos, there’s no OfficeMax near them.”
Kamala Harris Pushes Back on Voter ID Laws: says “people who live in rural communities, that there’s no Kinkos, there’s no Office Max, near them.”
– To copy their ID . pic.twitter.com/JBcl8MLGB9— @KassMedefer (@KMedefer) July 10, 2021
Let’s preemptively counter the Democrats’ likely argument on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision.
Asking people to properly fill out their absentee ballots with correct information isn’t racist. Voter identification isn’t racist. Election integrity is not racist.
But people who think only minorities struggle with such concepts well, they are racist.
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