Federal judge says Pennsylvania mail-in ballots should still count if dated incorrectly

A federal judge ruled that mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania without accurate handwritten dates on their exterior envelopes must still be counted if they are received in time.

This article originally appeared in the Associated Press on November 21, 2023 and was written by Michael Rubinkam.  

The judge, a Trump appointee, sided with several Pennsylvania groups represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that refusing to count such ballots “because of a trivial paperwork error” disenfranchises voters and violates provisions of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that immaterial errors or omissions should not be used to prevent voting.

The suit was filed by state chapters of the NAACP, League of Women Voters, Common Cause, the Black Political Empowerment Project and other groups.

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