On Tuesday, The Pennsylvania Department of State announced they will disregard the Supreme Court ruling on counting mail in ballots with typos or incorrect dates. Earlier in the day, The Supreme Court had ruled that mail-in ballots with improper dates or typos should not be counted. This is an established election law and one that has historically been in place in the state, until earlier this year. Pennsylvania Secretary of State, Leigh Chapman, released a statement explaining how election officials would continue counting ballots:
“Today’s order from the U.S. Supreme Court vacating the Third Circuit’s decision on mootness grounds was not based on the merits of the issue and does not affect the prior decision of Commonwealth Court in any way. It provides no justification for counties to exclude ballots based on a minor omission, and we expect that counties will continue to comply with their obligation to count all legal votes.”
The Department also tweeted a response to the Supreme Court’s ruling:
Every county is expected to include undated ballots in their official returns for the Nov election, consistent with guidance & @CommCtofPA decision. Today’s order from SCOTUS vacating Third Circuit’s judgment on mootness grounds does not affect the prior decision of @CommCtofPA. pic.twitter.com/eDiYpvLZYV
— PA Department of State (@PAStateDept) October 11, 2022
