Pennsylvania must stop throwing out mail ballots over date errors, court rules [View all]
Source: CBS News/AP
August 26, 2025 / 2:59 PM EDT / AP
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that it is unconstitutional for the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania to throw out mail-in ballots simply because the voter didn't write an accurate date on the return envelope. The unanimous decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Pennsylvania to stop throwing out such ballots and upheld the decision earlier this year by a federal judge in Pittsburgh.
In its 55-page opinion, the three-judge panel said it had to weigh the state's interest in throwing out the ballots against the constitutional right to vote. The panel wrote that it was "unable to justify" the practice of discarding such ballots "that has resulted in the disqualification of thousands of presumably proper ballots."
Under Pennsylvania law, voters are required to write the date on the return envelope for their mail ballot. However, thousands of voters, confused by the request to write the date, might skip it or write another date, such as their birth date. Tuesday's decision marks the latest instance in more than a half-dozen cases where a court has instructed election officials in Pennsylvania to count such ballots.
However, higher courts have always reinstated the requirement in the heavily litigated matter that has pitted Democrats and their allies in trying to get rid of the requirement against Republicans who defend it. For Tuesday's ruling to be reversed, the U.S. Supreme Court would need to take up the issue.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/court-orders-pennsylvania-stop-throwing-out-mail-ballots-handwritten-date/
Link to RULING (PDF viewer) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26074783-eakinca3082625/#document/p55
Link to RULING (PDF) - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26074783/eakinca3082625.pdf
Just heard this on the local news radio station here in Philly about 20 minutes ago.
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