In a significant ruling to safeguard election integrity, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, composed of Democrat-appointed judges, has upheld a Pennsylvania state law that deems mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates as invalid. The court's decision overturns a lower court's ruling and solidifies the requirement for voters to properly fill out, date, and sign the declaration on the envelope before returning their ballot.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) hailed the 3rd Circuit's ruling as a crucial victory for election integrity and voter confidence. RNC Chairman Michael Whatley expressed that Pennsylvanians deserve reassurance regarding the security of their mail-in ballots and emphasized that the decision decisively rejects any attempt to count undated or incorrectly dated mail-in ballots.

Pennsylvania adopted universal mail-in voting in 2019, with the stipulation that voters must comply with the date requirement when submitting their ballots. However, during the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterms, a considerable number of voters' mail-in ballots failed to adhere to this requirement. According to the court's ruling, "thousands" of mail-in ballots were found to have incorrect or missing dates, resulting in approximately 10,000 of them being rejected during the 2022 midterms.

The 3rd Circuit panel of judges had previously ruled that the date requirement violated the Materiality Provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects voters from being denied their right to vote due to non-material paperwork issues. However, the U.S. Supreme Court deemed that ruling moot in its 2022 decision in Ritter v. Migliori.

Following the Supreme Court's decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that ballots failing to comply with the date requirement should be considered invalid under state law and should not be counted. However, the court was divided on whether discarding these ballots violated the Materiality Provision. Consequently, county election boards were instructed to "segregate and preserve" these ballots, even though they were not to be counted.

A subsequent lawsuit brought by leftist groups led to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter in November, stating that ballots with missing or incorrect dates should be counted as long as they are received by Election Day. The RNC and its affiliates appealed this decision.

In its latest ruling on Wednesday, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the state law's requirement for properly dated ballots does not violate the federal Materiality Provision, contradicting the district judge's ruling. The court acknowledged that while the instinct may be to argue that failing to date a return envelope should not disqualify a ballot, their role was limited to interpreting the statute. The court emphasized that the Materiality Provision only applies when determining who may vote, not to rules governing how qualified voters must cast their ballots for them to be counted.

The 3rd Circuit's majority concluded that Pennsylvania's date requirement, regardless of personal opinions, does not infringe upon the determination of voter eligibility. This ruling reinforces the principle that adhering to election rules, including the proper dating of ballots, is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the voting process in Pennsylvania.

The decision is expected to have broader implications for election laws and procedures across the nation, highlighting the significance of clear guidelines and adherence to statutory requirements to ensure public trust and confidence in the election system.