Pennsylvania requires that mail-in ballots include both a date and the signature of the voter.
This week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals opted not to revisit a previous ruling from March regarding the handling of mail-in ballots, rejecting a request for an en banc review made by a coalition of left-leaning organizations.
In a decisive vote of 10-4 on Tuesday, the court declined to rehear the challenge, as reported by Democracy Docket. Nonetheless, it did send one specific claim back to the district court for further consideration.
Pennsylvania’s election regulations mandate that mail-in ballots must bear both a date and the voter’s signature. During the 2022 midterm elections, approximately 10,000 mail-in ballots were invalidated due to either incorrect or missing dates.
In March, a panel of three judges from the court upheld these requirements in response to a lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which aimed to ensure the inclusion of these ballots in the final count.
Since the contentious 2020 presidential election, Pennsylvania’s electoral procedures have faced intense scrutiny. As one of several swing states narrowly won by President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump, Pennsylvania became a focal point for allegations of widespread voter irregularities, shaping much of the post-election discourse.
In efforts to enhance electoral integrity, Pennsylvania introduced automatic voter registration for eligible citizens last year. Advocates of this measure, including state officials, emphasized its role in bolstering election security while simplifying the voter registration process and reducing administrative costs.
“Automatic voter registration is a commonsense step to ensure election security and save Pennsylvanians time and tax dollars,” he said at the time. “Residents of our Commonwealth already provide proof of identity, residency, age, and citizenship at the DMV – all the information required to register to vote — so it makes good sense to streamline that process with voter registration.”
