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Pennsylvania court orders end to primary election stalemate: Count the undated mail ballots
This was done at the lower state court (Commonwealth Court) level as they are back in the courts again with what to do with the dated/undated mail ballots and the differing rulings from the state and federal courts. In this case, you had 3 counties that have yet to certify their primary votes from the May primary. It is sure to be back at the state Supreme Court - and hopefully with a decision well before November.
No paywall link
Pennsylvania court orders end to primary election stalemate: Count the undated mail ballots
by Jonathan Lai
Published Aug 19, 2022
A Pennsylvania judge ordered three counties to count undated mail ballots in their certified results for the primary election, breaking a standoff between those counties and the Department of State. “[T]he lack of a handwritten date on the declaration on the return envelope of a timely received absentee or mail-ballot does not support excluding those ballots from the Boards’ certified results under both Pennsylvania law and … the [federal] Civil Rights Act,” Commonwealth Court President Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer wrote Friday.
The ruling marked a significant victory for the state and proponents of counting undated mail ballots, as Cohn Jubelirer went further than in a previous opinion to say that state and federal law protect the counting of the undated ballots. In fact, she said, previous court decisions were based on a different set of known facts and also not precedential.
If it stands, that change could mean hundreds or even thousands of additional votes could be counted in future elections. Berks, Fayette, and Lancaster Counties had been locked in a stalemate with the Pennsylvania Department of State over whether to count undated mail ballots. The disagreement has delayed certification of the May 17 primary for months. Cohn Jubelirer ordered the counties to count the undated mail ballots and include them in new certified totals “as soon as possible” and no later than Wednesday.
Fayette County officials were reviewing the decision Friday “for the purposes of considering an appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” said Thomas W. King III, a lawyer for the county. Lancaster County officials declined to comment, and a Berks County spokesperson said that county had not yet decided Friday whether it would appeal. “We are pleased that the Court has affirmed that under federal and Pennsylvania law, these three county boards of elections cannot refuse to certify undated ballots,” a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State said in a statement.
(snip)
More: https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-primary-certification-lawsuit-20220819.html
by Jonathan Lai
Published Aug 19, 2022
A Pennsylvania judge ordered three counties to count undated mail ballots in their certified results for the primary election, breaking a standoff between those counties and the Department of State. “[T]he lack of a handwritten date on the declaration on the return envelope of a timely received absentee or mail-ballot does not support excluding those ballots from the Boards’ certified results under both Pennsylvania law and … the [federal] Civil Rights Act,” Commonwealth Court President Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer wrote Friday.
The ruling marked a significant victory for the state and proponents of counting undated mail ballots, as Cohn Jubelirer went further than in a previous opinion to say that state and federal law protect the counting of the undated ballots. In fact, she said, previous court decisions were based on a different set of known facts and also not precedential.
If it stands, that change could mean hundreds or even thousands of additional votes could be counted in future elections. Berks, Fayette, and Lancaster Counties had been locked in a stalemate with the Pennsylvania Department of State over whether to count undated mail ballots. The disagreement has delayed certification of the May 17 primary for months. Cohn Jubelirer ordered the counties to count the undated mail ballots and include them in new certified totals “as soon as possible” and no later than Wednesday.
Fayette County officials were reviewing the decision Friday “for the purposes of considering an appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” said Thomas W. King III, a lawyer for the county. Lancaster County officials declined to comment, and a Berks County spokesperson said that county had not yet decided Friday whether it would appeal. “We are pleased that the Court has affirmed that under federal and Pennsylvania law, these three county boards of elections cannot refuse to certify undated ballots,” a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State said in a statement.
(snip)
More: https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-primary-certification-lawsuit-20220819.html