Pennsylvania's mail-in ballot dating rule is legal under civil rights law, appeals court says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News/AP

March 27, 2024, 10:25 PM


HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A requirement for Pennsylvania voters to put accurate handwritten dates on the outside envelopes of their mail-in ballots does not run afoul of a civil rights law, a federal appeals court panel said Wednesday, overturning a lower court ruling.

A divided 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to uphold enforcement of the required date on return envelopes, a technical mandate that caused thousands of votes to be declared invalid in the 2022 election.

The total number is a small fraction of the large state's electorate, but the court's ruling puts additional attention on Pennsylvania's election procedures ahead of a presidential election in which its Electoral College votes are up for grabs.

A lower court judge had ruled in November that even without the proper dates, mail-in ballots should be counted if they are received in time. U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter said the envelope date is irrelevant in helping elections officials decide whether a ballot was received in time or if a voter is qualified.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pennsylvanias-mail-ballot-dating-rule-legal-civil-rights-108575484

[Think. Again.]

1. The rightwingers will be trying Anything and Everything...

...to re-install trump into the Whitehouse.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. There has been a narrative put out there

to almost suggest that Democrats ONLY use "mail voting" and Republicans ONLY vote "in person".

But based on the election stats here in PA that occurred since passage of Act-77 in 2019 that went into effect in 2020 and allowed "no excuse absentee ballots" (mail voting), only about 1/3rd of the votes have been cast that way (which could extrapolate to those being mostly Democrats).

So MOST Democrats (and voters in general) STILL vote "in person", but "banking votes" is a major convenience.

[Think. Again.]

3. Obviously, the safest method for voting will differ from state to state...

...even county to county.

It's up to those of us who are more concerned and able to figure it out to guide those around is in the best possible way to assure our community votes are cast and counted as intended.

For instance, I have lately been encouraging people in my community to doublecheck our voter registrations now, and again just before the deadline to register for November, and I have been clearly explaining how and where to do that doublechecking. I will also closely watch for the best and safest way possible to cast that vote in my community and encourage folks around me to use that method.