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If you vote by mail in Pennsylvania, sign AND date your ballot or your vote may not count [1]
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Date: 2022-10-21
As summarized by Zach Schonfeld, reporting for The Hill, the issue is now before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court:
National and state Republicans asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Sunday to exercise its rare “King’s Bench” authority to block undated mail ballots cast in the midterm elections. Pennsylvania requires voters to write the date on their ballot envelope under state law, but the requirement has been the subject of legal challenges amid battles over mail-in voting and unfounded claims of mass electoral fraud since the 2020 presidential election.
Because so many votes are potentially at risk, the resolution of this issue will likely determine whether Mehmet Oz or John Fetterman is elected to the U.S. Senate seat currently being contested in Pennsylvania (It may or may not impact the efforts of election-denier and seditionist GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who is currently trailing Democrat Josh Shapiro in most polls).
Here is the ballot provision at issue, as written on the back of the outer “return” envelope:
Note the requirement that the ballot be signed and dated whether you vote yourself or with assistance. That means the current date, i.e., the date when you sign it. (Most counties use the format shown above, but some outer envelopes may be as depicted in this guide). Either way, sign AND date it.
Because Democrats command a 4-2 majority on the PA Supreme Court (a vacancy due to the death of Chief Justice Baer is currently pending) it appears likely, based on their prior rulings, that they will deny the Republicans’ challenge and order such ballots to be counted. In August, for example, the state’s Commonwealth Court ordered that such ballots should be counted. However, that decision was before the U.S. Supreme Court indirectly weighed in on the issue, vacating as moot a prior ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals which had also ordered such ballots be counted. The Third Circuit had ruled that disallowing such ballots would violate the Civil Rights Act. The Republican Party has taken the U.S. Supreme Court’s action as a signal that it may be willing to assist GOP efforts to disenfranchise voters and has now filed suit in PA Supreme Court.
Assuming the PA high court rejects the GOP’s contentions, it’s unclear whether the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in again, but an appeal by the GOP to the tender mercies of the conservative majority on the Court is fairly certain.
Consequently --and because the issue is likely to be litigated well after the November 8 elections — it is absolutely imperative that any Democrat who votes by mail in the Commonwealth of PA correctly sign and date their ballot. This is particularly crucial when filling out the “declaration” or “outer” envelope, as this is the provision that the GOP will most likely use to challenge your vote’s validity.
The ballots must be received by county election offices by Nov. 8. Democrats in the Commonwealth of PA should mail them — or drop them off in an official drop box, if possible — as soon as possible.
Signed and dated.
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