In a decision that could impact thousands of voters in the upcoming November election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that mail-in ballots must have a proper date on their envelopes in order to be accepted. The court's decision overturns a previous ruling by the Commonwealth Court, which had deemed the ballot dating requirement as unconstitutional. The ruling was made on jurisdictional grounds, leaving room for potential future arguments on the merits of the case.

The legal dispute arose when a coalition of voting rights groups, represented by the ACLU and Public Interest Law Center, challenged the requirement under the free and equal elections clause of the state Constitution. The clause states that "elections shall be free and equal; and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage." The plaintiffs argued that the dating requirement violated this provision.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's ruling hinged on the failure of the original suit to include all 67 counties as parties to the case. The court stated that the Commonwealth Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the case due to this omission. The inclusion of Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt as a named party was deemed insufficient to grant jurisdiction.

Act 77, the state's mail voting law implemented in 2020, requires voters to sign and date the outer return envelope of their mail ballots and return the ballot in a secrecy envelope for it to be counted. Since its implementation, the dating requirement has faced several challenges, with federal judges previously debating whether it violates federal voting law. However, this is the first direct challenge to the requirement under the state constitution.

Rejecting undated or incorrectly dated mail ballots from otherwise eligible voters due to minor paperwork errors was deemed a violation of the fundamental right to vote by Judge Ellen Ceisler, who wrote for the 4-1 majority. The court's decision means that unless another ruling supersedes it, voters will need to ensure they write a date on their ballot return envelope for their vote to be counted.

The impact of this ruling could be significant, as thousands of ballots are rejected each election due to issues related to dating. In the April primary, approximately 8,500 ballots, or 1.22% of those returned, were rejected by counties for lacking a signature, date, or secrecy envelope. Out of these, over 4,400 were rejected specifically because of dating issues.

While the decision is seen as a victory for election integrity by supporters of the ruling, opponents believe it may pose challenges for voters and add unnecessary obstacles to the voting process. The NAACP's challenge to the requirement under federal law could potentially be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, and there are ongoing separate cases representing clients who are also challenging the dating requirement.

With Pennsylvania being a critical state in the upcoming election, this ruling has implications for voters and reinforces the need for attentiveness to the proper dating of mail-in ballots. The Pennsylvania Department of State and the ACLU have yet to respond to requests for comment on the court's decision. As the November election approaches, voters will need to ensure they comply with the new ruling's requirements to avoid having their mail ballots rejected due to dating issues.