PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the Third Circuit Appeals Court decision that allowed Pennsylvania to count undated mail-in ballots as long as they were received by the voting deadline.
State and local election officials say they are studying the ruling to determine how to proceed. Secretary of State Leigh Chapman says Tuesday's ruling will not change the state’s guidance that those undated mail-in ballots be counted.
“The current guidance is for counties to count ballots that are missing a date or have the wrong date. We will evaluate and update guidance as necessary,” she said.
The high court granted an appeal by a Lehigh County Republican, who ran for judge in 2021, losing by five votes. He challenged some 250 undated mail-in ballots.
Its decision does not rule out counting those ballots but it also vacates the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling mandating those ballots be counted.
The Third Circuit ruled the date on a ballot is a technicality, and throwing out ballots on a technicality violates the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court ordered the Third Circuit to dismiss the case as moot because the Lehigh County candidate had conceded the election.
But acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman says a Commonwealth Court ruling, issued after the Third Circuit opinion, also said undated ballots must be counted so the state will not make any changes.
"On our website right now, the current guidance is for counties to count ballots that are missing a date or have the wrong date."
Even though the decision should have no impact on next moth’s mid-terms, Committee of Seventy president Al Schmidt, says the Supreme Court’s ruling is problematic, introducing a level of uncertainty that is potentially harmful.
"The danger is that this injects more uncertainty into the process and makes mail-in ballot voting seem controversial in a way, when it’s actually very straightforward," Schmidt said.
"The danger is that this makes mail-in voting seem controversial in a way where it’s actually very straightforward."
City Commission Chair Lisa Deeley says the ruling is disappointing.
"It’s not just, and we should certainly not be putting undue burdens on people that are voting by mail," she said.
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Though the impact is still not clear, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz had filed an amicus brief, and the decision was split -- Republican appointees in favor of reversing the lower court ruling while Democratic appointees thought it should stand.
Voting rights advocate Nick Pressley says his group, All Voting is Local, will be beefing up voter education efforts.
"We’re going to make sure people submit their ballots with the dates on them," he said.
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