As a result of an appeal filed by the Republican National Committee, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 late Wednesday that mail-in ballots without dates or with unqualified dates cannot be counted in Pennsylvania elections.
"In the November 2020 and November 2022 elections, thousands of Pennsylvania mail-in voters did not comply with the date requirement. Some voters omitted the date altogether, others put shortened or obviously incorrect dates. As county boards took different approaches to enforcing the date requirement, litigation began, and the Materiality Provision took center stage. A panel of this Court ruled this federal law does apply outside the voter registration context and was violated by the date requirement now (again) before us. But that decision has since been vacated as moot by the Supreme Court. Ritter v. Migliori, 143 S. Ct. 297 (2022)," the ruling states.
"The validity of enforcing the date requirement thus remained uncertain as a matter of federal law. But the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania soon settled the issue for state law purposes. See Ball v. Chapman, 289 A.3d 1, 20-23 (Pa. 2023). It unanimously agreed the command in Pennsylvania’s Election Code that mail-in voters 'shall . . . date' the declaration was 'unambiguous and mandatory' as a matter of statutory interpretation; so omitting the date, or incorrectly dating the return envelope, 'render[s] a ballot invalid” under Pennsylvania law,' the ruling continues.
The RNC is declaring a victory for election integrity.
“This is a crucial victory for election integrity and voter confidence in the Keystone State and nationwide. Pennsylvanians deserve to feel confident in the security of their mail ballots, and this 3rd Circuit ruling roundly rejects unlawful left-wing attempts to count undated or incorrectly dated mail ballots. Republicans will continue to fight and win for election integrity in courts across the country ahead of the 2024 election," RNC Chairman Michael Whatley released in a statement.
🚨 The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of an RNC-led election integrity lawsuit on signature verification for mail voting in Pennsylvania.⁰⁰“This is a crucial victory for election integrity and voter confidence.” -@ChairmanWhatleyhttps://t.co/g6xRqEvtj9
— GOP (@GOP) March 27, 2024