A panel of Commonwealth Court judges in Harrisburg heard argument on Thursday on a lawsuit that challenges the practice of culling mail-in ballots that may have a missing or incorrect handwritten date on the return envelope.
A nonpartisan group of community organizations, along with the ACLU, brought the suit against Pa. Secretary of State Al Schmidt and election officials in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, claiming that removing votes due to an issue with a handwritten date on an envelope is unconstitutional.
In a statement on the hearing, that was held at 1 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg, representatives for the ACLU said that they plan to argue that an incorrect or missing handwritten date on a return envelope should be considered "inconsequential" and not be considered a reason to omit a voter's ballot.
"[T]his practice violates the fundamental right to vote in free and equal elections guaranteed by the Pennsylvania Constitution," representatives for the ACLU said in a statement.
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