The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania chamber is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
In a 4-3 order issued today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated a Commonwealth Court decision that would have required counties in the battleground state to count mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect handwritten dates on their outer return envelopes.
According to the ruling, which stands to put thousands of voters at risk of disenfranchisement this November, the Commonwealth Court lacked jurisdiction over the matter since the plaintiffs failed to name all 67 Pennsylvania Counties as defendants to the lawsuit. The suit only named the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny.
By failing to address the date issue on the merits, the court’s move injects additional uncertainty into the upcoming Nov. 5 election in a state that is consequential to winning the presidential election.
Three justices dissented, noting that “[a] prompt and definitive ruling on the constitutional question presented in this appeal is of paramount public importance inasmuch as it will affect the counting of ballots in the upcoming general election.”
The order comes on the heels of an Aug. 30 decision from the Commonwealth Court concluding that the strict enforcement of Pennsylvania’s handwritten date requirement violates