**Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Against Counting Undated Mail-In Ballots**

In a significant decision on Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has issued a directive to all county election officials across the state. The court has mandated that mail-in ballots which arrived on time for this year's general election but lack current handwritten dates on their envelopes are not to be counted.

This ruling stems from a request made by the Republican National Committee alongside Pennsylvania's Republican Party, following a prolonged legal dispute regarding how to handle absentee ballots that fail to adhere to this specific requirement of the state’s election rules. The contention over these so-called "undated" ballots has led to numerous lawsuits since Pennsylvania sanctioned no-excuse mail-in voting in 2020.

Despite previous similar directives from the state's highest court, some local election officials had chosen to count these undated or incorrectly dated ballots in their official results. Pennsylvania’s law necessitates that a date be handwritten on the outer return envelope of mail-in ballots. However, state courts are still debating whether excluding ballots without this date infringes upon the state’s constitution.

The Republican National Committee and David McCormick, who has been declared the winner of the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race by the Associated Press, recently filed lawsuits against county officials who included these undated or misdated ballots in the count. Following the court's decision, RNC Chair Michael Whatley expressed a firm stance, stating via a post on X, "No more excuses. Election officials in Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and other counties have absolutely no choice."

This development comes on the heels of Pennsylvania’s top election official initiating an automatic statewide recount for the U.S. Senate race, a contest that remains notably close. As per the latest unofficial returns compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of State, McCormick leads Democratic Senator Bob Casey by a margin exceeding 17,000 votes.