Episode 27: American Democracy Minute for May 23, 2022: Federal Appeals Court on Undated Ballots May Protect PA Voters

American Democracy Minute

Federal Appeals Court on Undated Ballots May Protect PA Voters
Today's Links:
Articles: Philadelphia Inquirer, ACLU Pennsylvania
Groups working on the Freedom to Vote in PA: ACLU Pennsylvania, Keystone Votes coalition, Urban League of Philadelphia, Common Cause PA
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping your government by and for the people.
An interesting pro-voter court ruling in Pennsylvania in a case brought by the ACLU could have national implications and help thousands have their vote counted.
The Philadelphia Enquirer reports that In a 2021 local election in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 257 mail-in ballots were rejected because they were undated. Pennsylvania law requires that voters sign and date mail-in ballots.
In Migliori v. Lehigh County Board of Elections, the ACLU argued on behalf of five affected voters. The federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that the lack of a date was immaterial and the ballots should be counted in that election, and possibly including last week’s Pennsylvania state primary, where a recount of the Republican race for U.S. Senate is pending and the margin between Dr. Oz and David McCormick is only .5%.
That was in federal court. But in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a 2020 ruling on the same issue was much murkier. In that case three state justices said they should be counted, three justices said they shouldn’t, and one said he would allow it in 2020 but not in the future.
In the 2022 state primary, 2,000 mail-in ballots were submitted without a date – just in Philadelphia.
We have more information and links to the ACLU case at our website, AmericanDemocracyMinute.org/
Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we have, it’s something we DO.”
For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.