A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled on Wednesday that the requirement for mail-in voters to handwrite the correct date on their ballot violates the state Constitution. This ruling stems from a case involving rejected ballots in a previous election in Philadelphia. Voting rights advocates have been challenging the dating requirement through multiple lawsuits, including one pending at the US Supreme Court, which will not be resolved before Election Day.
The issue with the dating requirement is that it has led to the rejection of thousands of ballots in past elections. Voters sometimes mistakenly put their birthdate or other incorrect dates, or forget to date the ballot envelope altogether. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania stated in its ruling that enforcing the dating provisions has resulted in the arbitrary and baseless rejection of timely ballots, leading to disenfranchisement and violating the free and equal elections clause.
