Even with Oz-Fetterman PA Senate Race Decided with Oz Concession, Litigation Over Undated but Timely PA Mail in Ballots Could Affect U.S. House and Other Races

ELB readers may remember that John Fetterman intervened in some litigation in federal court over whether the state may reject mailed in ballots that arrived on time but had no date or the wrong date. The state Supreme Court split evenly over whether those ballots could be accepted, leaving standing the lower court ruling that they may not be accepted. The action then shifted to federal court, where voting rights lawyers and others had been arguing that rejecting those ballots violates a provision of the federal Civil Rights Act that prevents rejection of voters’ ballots for “immaterial” errors. This issue made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court before, but the issue got mooted and not addressed by the full Court. (Justice Alito wrote an opinion for himself and Justices Gorsuch and Thomas expressing doubt about the federal argument for accepting the ballots.)

With the Fetterman race over, this issue won’t affect the U.S. Senate contest, but it could affect other U.S. House or state races in Pennsylvania. Keep your eye on this issue.

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