Thousands of ballots are at stake as the Supreme Court considers Pennsylvania voting rules
Source: Aol/NBC News
Updated October 31, 2024 at 8:49 PM
Pennsylvania’s mail balloting policies have been the focus of intense litigation since the 2020 election. Now, two new cases may address the rules in the biggest battleground state on the eve of the election, with implications for thousands of ballots that have already been mailed in or dropped off.
The latest fights — and there may be more to come — present two issues. The first case is about whether a voter who returns a “deficient” mail ballot — for example, a mail ballot missing its “secrecy envelope” or one that was undated or misdated by a voter — can cast a provisional ballot, instead, on Election Day, as was the general practice in 2022. The state Supreme Court recently said yes, based on state law, but the U.S. Supreme Court may soon weigh in. The NBC News Decision Desk estimates that thousands of votes could be at stake.
The second case is about whether undated or misdated mail ballots should be rejected at all. That issue has been litigated many times, because election officials do not use the date a voter writes on the ballot envelope to determine the validity of a mail ballot — they just consider whether the mail ballot was received on time. Previous suits have not succeeded in striking down the state rule, but a Pennsylvania appellate court revived the issue Wednesday by requiring the Philadelphia Board of Elections to count undated and misdated mail ballots in the context of a September special election.
And while it is not clear whether that decision will prompt a reassessment of the statewide rule for the 2024 presidential election — the state Supreme Court had previously indicated it is unlikely to change the rules while voting is underway — the NBC News Decision Desk estimates there could be thousands of misdated or undated mail ballots in Pennsylvania.
Read more: https://www.aol.com/thousands-ballots-stake-supreme-court-223802669.html
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So yes, we do know who sent the ballot.
Once those tests are passed, the envelope is opened and the inside envelope (with the ballot) is separated from the outside envelope. That's when they know whether the secrecy envelope was used. The question now is whether the ballot can be considered valid if there is no secrecy envelope.
Some PA counties are contacting the voters and asking them to come to the Board of Elections and "cure" the ballot. (In other words, fix the mistake.) Other counties are tossing the ballots into the "refused" dumpster and not counting them. So those voters have been disenfranchised and they may not even know it.
As BumRush explains, this has been before the PA courts several times in the last 4 years and the Repukes just won't let it go. Now it has gone to the SCOTUS.
