BREAKING: PA Supreme Court rules election officials are PROHIBITED from rejecting mail-in ballots...

[Roland99]

32. There IS a verification process. The order says that the signature cannot be the reason for a reject

In the first guidance document issued on September 11, 2020 to all county boards,
Secretary Boockvar set forth the procedure the boards were to follow upon receipt of an
absentee or mail-in ballot. This guidance directed the county boards to examine the
declaration contained on the ballot return envelope containing the absentee or mail-in
ballot. It further directed the county board to “compare the information on the outer
envelope, i.e., the voter’s name and address, with the information contained in the
‘Registered Absentee and Mail-In Voters File, the absentee voter’s list and/or the Military
Veterans’ and Emergency Civilians Absentee Voters File.’” Pennsylvania Department of
State, Guidance Concerning Examination of Absentee and Mail-In Ballot Return

https://www.dos.pa.gov/VotingElections/OtherServicesEvents/Documents/Examination
%20of%20Absentee%20and%20Mail-In%20Ballot%20Return%20Envelopes.pdf. The
Secretary advised that, if the declaration is signed and the county board is satisfied that
the declaration is sufficient, then the absentee or mail-in ballot should be approved for
canvassing unless it is challenged in accordance with the Election Code. The Secretary
specifically cautioned the county boards of elections in this regard that “[t]he Pennsylvania
Election Code does not authorize the county board of elections to set aside returned
absentee or mail-in ballots based solely on signature analysis by the county board of
elections.”

...

Judge Ranjan discerned nothing in the text of these provisions which requires
county boards of elections to “verify” the signatures on mail-in and absentee ballots – that
is, to examine the signatures to determine whether or not they were authentic, Trump at
*53, and thus rejected Intervenors’ argument that Section 3146.8(g)(3) requires county
boards of elections to engage in signature comparison and verification. In Judge Ranjan’s
view, the county board of elections is required under this statutory provision to verify only
the proof of the voter’s identification by examining the voter’s driver’s license number, the
last four digits of his or her social security number, or other specifically approved form of
[J-113-2020] - 10 identification which is required by Section 2602(z.5) of the Election Code.10
Indeed, Judge Ranjan noted that nowhere in Section 3146.8(g)(3) does the term “signature”
appear. Trump, at *55.