Voting Rights Groups File Suit at Pa. Supreme Court to Stop Enforcement of Handwritten Date Rule for Mail Ballot Return Envelopes

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Voting rights advocacy groups filed a new lawsuit today in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, asking the court to stop county election boards from disqualifying mail ballots submitted by voters who did not include a “correct” handwritten date on the return envelope.

The organizations argue that disqualifying timely received ballots with a missing or incorrect handwritten date violates the rights of voters protected by the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Represented by the ACLU of Pennsylvania, American Civil Liberties Union, Public Interest Law Center, and law firm Arnold & Porter, the advocates asked the court to use its “King’s Bench” authority to consider the suit. That power allows the state Supreme Court to hear cases of public importance without first going through the lower courts.

“It’s time for the state Supreme Court to hear and rule on this issue on its merits,” said Stephen Loney, senior supervising attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “More than 10,000 eligible voters could be disenfranchised unnecessarily by this unconstitutional rule in the coming election.”

Last month, a five-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court agreed in another case brought by many of the same organizations that enforcing the handwritten date requirement is unconstitutional. But in a 4-3 decision, the state Supreme Court vacated that ruling and dismissed the case over technical procedural issues, without ruling on the underlying state constitutional argument.

“The counties know that these ballots are from eligible voters. They know that they received the ballots by the submission deadline because they’re holding them in their hands. This requirement is meaningless for administering the election, but it's damaging because it disqualifies otherwise eligible voters for a meaningless paperwork mistake,” said Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center.

Based on data from the Pennsylvania Department of State, voters who are disqualified over the handwritten date requirement are disproportionately older adults.

“Eligible voters in Pennsylvania have a fundamental right to cast their ballots free of these illegal obstacles and to have their voices heard this election,” said Ari Savitzky, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project.

More information about the lawsuit, New PA Project Education Fund et al. v. Schmidt and 67 County Boards of Elections, including a copy of today’s filing, is available at aclupa.org/NPPEF.