Pennsylvania Supreme Court blocks counting of ballots without dates on them

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled this week that state officials may not count election ballots that are undated, or dated incorrectly.

In an even 3-3 split, the court ruled that election officials may not count any mail-in ballots that are not dated or dated with the incorrect date. Due to the split, the court ordered that those ballots be segregated and preserved should the matter come back to court and their decision overturned.

While the court did not hand down a formal opinion, it did say one would be provided at a later date. The argument for allowing the undated or wrongly-dated ballots is that state law only specifies that a ballot must be received by a certain date, making the date on the actual ballot irrelevant. 

The Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the state Republican Party and a few individual voters brought the case to court as part of an ongoing effort to question election integrity in the state.

In 2020, Biden won the swing state by a narrow 1.17 percent margin, and some of the 2022 midterm races are similarly close going into next week’s election. 

John Fetterman is facing off in a dead heat against Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, in a race that could determine control of the United States Senate. As of Wednesday, FiveThirtyEight showed Fetterman ahead of Oz by less than a percentage point.