Gov. Josh Shapiro and voting rights groups castigated the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for ruling Friday that counties can throw out mail-in ballots if voters fail to put accurate dates on the envelopes.
The high court ruled that the lower court that found the mandate unenforceable erred in taking the case because it only sued two counties — Philadelphia and Allegheny — and did not include all 67 election boards.
“It’s unfortunate that the PA Supreme Court did not side with the voters of our Commonwealth today,” wrote Shapiro in an email statement. “It should be clear that voters who make an inconsequential dating error deserve to still have their valid vote counted. My Administration will continue to fight for voter enfranchisement and ensure Pennsylvanians’ right to a free, secure, and fair election.”
The Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision came two weeks after Commonwealth Court had halted enforcement of the handwritten dates on the outside envelopes envelopes, raising fresh concerns that thousands of ballots could be invalidated.
“Thousands of voters are at risk of having their ballots rejected in November for making a meaningless mistake,” said Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center. “It’s more important now than ever for every voter to carefully read and follow the instructions for submitting a mail-in ballot.”
More than 10,000 voters cast mail-in ballots in recent elections with inaccurate or missing dates. Mail-in ballots are favored by many more Democrats than Republicans in Pennsylvania.
The Black Political Empowerment Project and other community organizations sued the Department of State earlier ths year to end the disqualification of mail-in ballots based on what it said was a common trivial error on the external envelopes.
“This procedural ruling is a deeply unfortunate and unnecessary setback for voters, whose fundamental right to vote is at stake,” ACLU Voting Rights Project Senior Staff Attorney Ari Savitzky, who represented the plaintiffs. “It is time to end once and for all the practice of disenfranchising thousands of eligible voters based on a totally meaningless paperwork mistake. We will not stop fighting to make sure that all votes are counted.”
ACLU Voting Rights Project Senior Staff Attorney Ari Savitzky made the following statement:
“This procedural ruling is a deeply unfortunate and unnecessary setback for voters, whose fundamental right to vote is at stake. It is time to end once and for all the practice of disenfranchising thousands of eligible voters based on a totally meaningless paperwork mistake. We will not stop fighting to make sure that all votes are counted.”
A statewide coalition of ten nonpartisan community organizations sued Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt and election officials in Philadelphia and Allegheny County in state court, demanding an end to the disqualification of mail-in ballots for inconsequential date errors on the declaration envelope. The petitioners argued that this practice violates the fundamental right to vote in free and equal elections guaranteed by the Pennsylvania Constitution.
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Publish date : 2024-09-13 23:00:00
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