Pennsylvania Court: Ballot Date Rule is Unfair

In a surprising turn of events, a Pennsylvania appeals court has spoken up about a controversial rule. This rule says that people who vote by mail must write the date on their ballot envelope. The court said this rule goes against the state's Constitution. They think it's unfair because it leads to many ballots being rejected. Voters sometimes put the wrong date or forget to date the envelope at all. This has caused thousands of votes to be thrown out in past elections. The court thinks this is a problem because it stops people from being able to vote fairly. They said it's like disenfranchisement, which is when someone is not allowed to vote. Voting rights groups are happy about the ruling. They think it's a step in the right direction. But they also said there might be more to sort out before the rule changes for the current election. Mimi McKenzie, who works at the Public Interest Law Center, said voters should still date their ballot envelopes and try to fix any mistakes. She also said they should vote provisionally on election day if they make a mistake. Pennsylvania has had many legal battles over its mail ballot rules. Another case is at the US Supreme Court. This case is about whether counties should count provisional votes from people whose mail ballots were rejected for having the wrong date. Because elections are run by counties, it's hard to say how much one ruling will affect things statewide. Many counties, including the largest ones, let voters fix ballots with technical problems. The state has tried to fix the date problem by redesigning ballot envelopes. They hope this will stop voters from putting their birthdate or other wrong dates on the envelope.