Pennsylvania Senate Race May Turn on Supreme Court Order Over Mail Ballots

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

(Bloomberg) -- A US Supreme Court order involving the counting of undated mail ballots in Pennsylvania risks a chaotic post-election in a state with a tight race that could determine which party controls the Senate.

With ballots already being sent out by some Pennsylvania counties, the US Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated a lower court decision that would have required local elections officials to count mail ballots even when voters forgot to add a date next to their signatures.

Pennsylvania Republicans say such ballots should not be counted, because state law requires voters to sign and date their ballots. But Democrats -- including acting secretary of state Leigh Chapman -- have argued that is a technicality.

Lawyers on both sides agree that the issue will likely lead to another lawsuit after the November midterms, when the ballots could be decisive in a close contest between Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz. Polls show Fetterman with a narrow lead in one of the races that could determine whether Democrats continue to hold the Senate, currently divided 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaker.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pennsylvania-senate-race-may-turn-on-supreme-court-order-over-mail-ballots/ar-AA12Tuoi

[cyclonefence]

1. I already mailed mine in, so nyah nyah nyah

*and* I dated my ballot like I'm supposed to, *and* I voted straight Democratic. So nyah nyah nyah Supremes.

[SlimJimmy]

7. I have to make this point, technicality, or not

if the law requires it, then we should make sure it's done. Don't give the repukes any excuses.

[Indykatie]

9. Dems Apparently Need to Spend Some of their Millions on HOW to VOTE via Mail n/t

[GreenWave]

2. Challenge every GOP on this dating the ballot issue.

Question one. You were supposed to date your ballot!
Irate GOP insurrectionist lover, I did!
Question two: Where did you take your ballot on the love date?

[tishaLA]

3. Does PA allow voters the chance to correct the ballots

if they forgot to date them? And is the Secretary of State placing ads educating voters about how to make sure their votes count?

[Meadowoak]

4. Early in person for me, I don't trust the mail.

[gab13by13]

10. All you have to do is go on line to where's my ballot.

I mailed mine Tuesday, signed and dated.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Do you have to date your ballot at the polls?

When you mark your ballot, could you be voting in last year's election, or next years? No. Ballots are unique to the election year.

I don't see why a date is important, if the ballot is received in a timely manner. What if you put last year on the ballot you sign? Have they addressed that one? It happens once or twice a year I put the wrong year on something.

[Retrograde]

6. Because it gives a certain party

an opportunity to reject votes from people they think are unlikely to vote for them. It's another hoop to make them jump through.

[FakeNoose]

8. This question has already been settled

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has already ruled that a post-stamped envelope (by the post office) is good enough even if the person who mailed it forgot to write the date. The ruling came this past summer and I know it's posted here on DU also. The US Supreme Court is not going to overrule that. The MAGAt lawyers can talk till they're blue on the face.

[gab13by13]

11. Read the post, you are wrong.

The US SC overturned the lower court decision. Mail in ballots that are not dated will not be counted.

[peggysue2]

12. Instructions come with the ballot

Instructions are explicit in very easy language and show you how to complete the ballot, insert the ballot into its privacy envelope and provide the necessary info on the outside envelope.

Short of doing it for you, the information is easy to read and complete. There are no excuses for messing this up and we know the Republicans will look for any discrepancies, no matter how small or irrelevant--like a missing date.

So everyone, take your time and just do it. Check it once, twice, how many times it takes. Because every single vote counts. This election is too critical to get lost bc of an oversight.

Is the whole thing dumb? Yes, it is. But let's embrace the dumb and win this election for our states and country.

[no_hypocrisy]

13. I don't see how the actual writing of the date matters.

The ballots are not counted if the postmark is later than midnight on Election Day.

The candidates for any given year are different and the ballot can be used on that as well.

[Deminpenn]

14. First, media is desperate for a "nail-biter" on Nov 8th

They have zeroed in on PA because Oz' poll numbers are somewhat close to Fetterman's, but Oz has never led in even 1 poll. This particular race is not going to come down to a few hundred votes where incorrectly filled out ballots become any kind of an issue.

Further, the counties that have decided not to count "undated" ballots are one run by Republicans. Westmoreland, for ex, will not count mailed ballots that haven't been dated by the voter. If Oz is going to have any chance to win, he needs every vote in Westmoreland to be counted.

Since this issue has been in the PA courts for over 2 years now, the counties have probably changed the way the information that has to be filled out is laid out the back of the envelope so voters are sure to fill out every required line.