Republicans press Pennsylvania Supreme Court to block counting of undated mail ballots

Nationwide and state Republicans requested the Pennsylvania Supreme Courtroom on Sunday to train its uncommon “King’s Bench” authority to dam undated mail ballots solid within the midterm elections.

Pennsylvania requires voters to jot down the date on their poll envelope beneath state regulation, however the requirement has been the topic of authorized challenges amid battles over mail-in voting and unfounded claims of mass electoral fraud because the 2020 presidential election.

The end result of the brand new case may have profound results on November’s midterm elections, with Pennsylvania’s Senate race seen as a key battleground contest for management of the chamber along with an in depth gubernatorial race.

The U.S. Supreme Courtroom final week vacated a Might appeals court docket ruling that instructed election officers to depend mail-in ballots with out the written date that arrived earlier than the deadline in a 2021 choose race. 

Sunday’s petition to the Pennsylvania Supreme Courtroom — which was filed by a gaggle of voters alongside the Republican Nationwide Committee, the Republican Occasion of Pennsylvania and the Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee — asks the court docket to declare the date requirement obligatory and order counties to separate undated ballots.

“Any counting of ballots that the Normal Meeting has declared invalid — and the dearth of statewide uniformity within the remedy of undated or incorrectly dated ballots — are eroding public belief and confidence within the integrity of Pennsylvania’s elections at a significant second within the Nation’s and the Commonwealth’s historical past,” the petition states.

The petition asks the court docket to train its King’s Bench energy, referring to the court docket’s authority to skip the decrease courts and instantly handle a problem of instant public significance. The ability isn’t used however has been leveraged for election instances earlier than.

The petitioners argued the urgency of the upcoming midterm elections necessitates the court docket to instantly intervene with out ready on decrease courts.

“The time for the Courtroom to behave is now,” the petition states. “The validity of undated absentee and mail-in ballots already led to 1 pricey and pointless election problem earlier this yr.”

The federal appeals court docket’s Might order, which was declared moot by the Supreme Courtroom, discovered the date requirement violated federal civil rights regulation.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits officers from denying people the precise to vote due to errors which are “not materials” in figuring out if they’re certified.

The petitioners on Sunday contested the appeals court docket’s ruling, arguing that the availability doesn’t lengthen to state guidelines on filling out a poll and relates solely to figuring out the particular person’s total proper to vote.

“The date requirement has nothing to do with whether or not the person satisfies the 4 {qualifications} to vote in Pennsylvania,” the petition states.

The Republicans additionally argued that steerage from the appearing secretary of the commonwealth contradicts state regulation and is subsequently invalid as a result of the Structure grants state legislatures the authority to find out election guidelines.

“The battle is apparent: the Appearing Secretary’s steerage instructs county boards of elections to depend ballots that the Normal Meeting has mandated is probably not counted. The steerage is subsequently illegal for that motive alone,” the petition states.

A spokesperson for the appearing secretary declined to touch upon the swimsuit.

This story was up to date at 5:56 p.m.