(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A Pennsylvania court ruled Friday that the heavily Democratic counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny must count mismarked ballots, even if those ballots have incorrect or missing dates.
In a controversial 4-1 decision, the court claimed that if the ballots are received by the deadline, having the wrong or not date does not invalidate them as interpreted by the state’s constitution.
“The refusal to count undated or incorrectly dated but timely mail ballots submitted by otherwise eligible voters because of meaningless and inconsequential paperwork errors violates the fundamental right to vote recognized in the free and equal elections clause,” Judge Ellen Ceisler remarked, according to Spotlight Pa.
Republican National Committee spokesperson Claire Zunk sharply criticized the decision as “an example of the worst kind of judicial activism,” clarifying that the Republican Party will appeal
She added, “Courts should not undermine election confidence and integrity by striking down commonsense election laws enacted by the people’s representatives.”
In stark contrast, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro lauded the ruling as a “victory.”
Echoing his approval, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt’s office smugly declared that the “ruling makes clear a voter’s minor error of forgetting to date or misdating a ballot envelope cannot be a cause for disenfranchisement.” Schmidt, dubbed by President Donald Trump as a Republican in name only (RINO), was appointed by Shapiro in 2022.
The ACLU claimed the now-stricken rule affected 10,000 ballots in 2022 and claimed that “thousands” more were impacted in the 2024 primaries.
Philadelphia and Allegheny are key Democratic strongholds. In 2020, Philadelphia County overwhelmingly voted for Biden, with 81.4% of the vote compared to Trump’s 17.9%. Allegheny County followed, with Biden receiving 59.6% of the vote to Trump’s 39.2%.
The controversial ruling came after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania sued on behalf of leftist groups against Act 77—a law that has been at the center of electoral battles since the 2020 election.
