HARRISBURG (AP) – A technical requirement that PA voters write accurate dates on the exterior envelope of mail-in ballots was again the subject of a court proceeding as advocates argued the mandate unfairly leads to otherwise valid votes being thrown out. A five-judge Commonwealth Court panel heard about two hours of argument in a case that was filed in May, even though the date requirement has been upheld both by the state Supreme Court and the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case was brought by the Black Political Empowerment Project, Common Cause, and allied advocacy groups against the PA Secretary of State and the elections boards in Philadelphia and Allegheny County. They argued that enforcing the date requirement infringes upon voting rights and that none of the prior cases on the topic directly ruled whether it runs afoul of the state constitution’s Free and Equal Elections Clause.
