The Pennsylvania Supreme Court docket dominated on Friday that mail-in ballots with incorrect dates won’t be counted in November, reversing a earlier ruling from a decrease courtroom within the battleground state.
The choice from final month named solely Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties, which the state’s Supreme Court docket argued the decrease ruling lacked jurisdiction.
“HUGE election integrity win in Pennsylvania,” GOP Chairman Michael Whatley stated in a post on X.
The courtroom’s reversal is a win for the Republicans, however acquired some backlash from the state’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which labeled misdated ballots a “frequent trivial error on the exterior envelopes” in a press release on Friday.
“At this time’s procedural ruling is a setback for Pennsylvania voters, however we’ll preserve preventing for them. These eligible voters who obtained their ballots in on time ought to have their votes counted and voices heard,” stated ACLU of Pennsylvania legal professional Steve Loney in an announcement. “The elemental proper to vote is among the many most valuable rights we get pleasure from as Pennsylvanians, and it ought to take greater than a trivial paperwork error to take it away.”
Ten neighborhood organizations sued Pennsylvania State Secretary Al Schmidt and election officers within the two named counties in state courtroom, in line with the ACLU’s press launch.
Three of the seven justices dissented in opposition to the reversal.
Pennsylvania is an important state within the upcoming election, with polling from The Hill/Choice Desk HQ exhibiting that it is seemingly going to be a toss-up between Vice President Harris, who holds lower than a one p.c lead over former President Trump.
