Fetterman files lawsuit against PA board of elections, says undated absentee ballots should be counted

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania election officials on Monday arguing that ballots with errors on them, such as those undated or misdated, should be counted in the Nov. 8 midterms.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court previously told the board that they must not count ballots with such errors, citing a state voting law that requires all voters who mail in their ballots to “fill out, date and sign the declaration” on the envelope in which the ballot is placed.

These ballots would be removed but also preserved by the county board of elections because it was “evenly divided” on the issue of whether their decision not to count these ballots was a violation of the constitution.

Fetterman and his campaign team asked for a federal court to order any mail-in ballots to be included, even if the date on the envelope is incorrect.

The lawsuit argues that the rule violates the Civil Rights Act, which stipulates that no person should be denied the right to vote over an “error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting.”

“The date [requirement] imposes unnecessary hurdles that eligible Pennsylvanians must clear to exercise their most fundamental right, resulting in otherwise valid votes being arbitrarily rejected without any reciprocal benefit to the Commonwealth,” their lawsuit reads, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.