A court panel upheld a Pennsylvania law that ballots without a date or with an incorrect date are invalid.
The 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals refused the request for an en banc, or full court, review of a ruling regarding mail-in ballots. In March, a three-judge panel of the appellate court ruled in favor of a Pennsylvania law that invalidates mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates.
Since adopting universal mail-in balloting in 2019, the state of Pennsylvania requires voters to “fill out, date and sign the declaration printed on [the] envelope.” Thousands of mailed ballots in the 2020 and 2022 elections “did not comply with the date requirement.“ The state supreme court had already ruled the undated or misdated ballots to be invalid.
The case against the state law was argued under the Materiality Provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
“We hold that the Materiality Provision only applies when the State is determining who may vote,” 3rd Circuit Judge Thomas Ambra wrote. “In other words, its role stops at the door of the voting place. The provision does not apply to rules, like the date requirement, that govern how a qualified voter must cast his ballot for it to be counted.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For wisdom for the judges and justices of the federal judiciary as they hear and rule on election and ballot cases.
- For federal and state officials to be prudent as they seek to uphold balloting laws and regulations to ensure election integrity.
Sources: The Federalist, USA Today
