Court ruling could upend Pa. Senate race

SNIP
A federal appeals court has ruled that the requirement for mail-in ballots to be dated by voters before they’re returned is immaterial and hundreds of Lehigh County ballots from the November election returned without dates must be counted.

The panel also ruled that the requirement under the amendment to Pennsylvania’s election code that mail-in ballots have a handwritten date on the return envelope is immaterial under the section of the voting rights act that prohibits denying the right to vote because of paperwork errors that are not material in determining whether a person is qualified to vote.

“They didn’t just strike it down because of something unusual in Lehigh County in the last election. The court found this simply isn’t a material requirement,” he said. “As the 67 counties are going through their counts for the primary election, they need to look at this.”
ENDSNIP

https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylv...0220520-mbbqalcjsrgi5owxj5psgin6hu-story.html

This was decided only for a single race in Lehigh Country from 2021, but the reports are that it could be used for the recent, and still undecided, GOP Senate race, where there are thousands of ballots across the state that are in this category that weren't counted.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/20/court-ruling-could-upend-pa-senate-race-00034198

Meaning many valid GOP voters could have their ballots not counted because they didn't follow some technical rule.

I'm ALWAYS torn at decisions like this.....

OTOneH, I find it amazing people don't follow what are probably real simple instructions. As I've read elsewhere, ballots are being accepted with ANY date on the envelope. The instructions don't say what date to put on envelope, being the date you filled out the ballot, the date you are putting the envelope in the mail, or your DOB, or your wedding date....whatever...

OTOH, there is no valid purpose from a voting standpoint to be writing a date on the mailing envelope in the first place. The ballot is stamped as received at the elections office, and that, plus the election date, are the only dates that matter in an election. This is yet another example of a state legislature making unnecessary rules which will ultimately disenfranchise voters who vote by mail, which seems to be primarily D voters these days.

In the end, I have to agree that meaningless rules such as this do violate the Voting Rights Act

SNIP
Federal law reads that no person should be denied the right to vote in any election “because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under State law to vote in such election.”
ENDSNIP

Yet another example of why we need national voting standards... Where do you stand?

 

Excellent, voting should be easy and convenient. It's the only say the average citizen has.

 

Just remember-paying a poll tax was also a technical requirement

 

I hope Dr. Oz wins...
He will be easier to beat...
Obviously, uniform voting standards are needed nationwide...

 

I haven't seen any analysis of how the GOP mail in numbers were running, but I saw a talking head (Kornacki??) indicate the other guy (he's so bland, his name escapes me) was doing slightly better than Oz with mail in...

I agree Oz is probably easier to beat, but I'm hoping Pennsylvania follows this federal ruling and starts counting these ballots in the Senate race and the non-Oz comes back and wins by single digits...

MAGA heads would implode....

 

I was reading this article about the Saturday election for PM in Australia..... I don't fully understand Australian politics, but I understand from forum regular @Bowerbird that Liberal down there doesn't mean what it does in the US.

I hope BB weighs in on their election at some point.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/21/australian-prime-minister-concedes-election-defeat-00034240

Anyhoo, the sentence that caught my eye, in relation to this thread about mail in voting was this

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The government changed regulations on Friday to enable people recently infected with Covid-19 to vote over the phone.
ENDSNIP

Can you imagine the GOP outrage if a state or the federales in the US did this, the DAY before the election???

Where's the voter ID?? (they'd say - but it's actually a valid question here)

 

You at one time given the disinformation they are constantly fed pushing fear and anger and the 24/7 being told they are victims, I would not have blamed them. Now, this disinformation is what they wilfully demand, so they take full blame.

 

Both candidates have now weighed in. No surprises.

The MAGA candidate who is currently behind (Doctor Bland) wants the undated ballots counted

The MAGA candidate who is currently ahead (Doctor Oz) doesn't

SNIP
Ellen Lyon, the Department of State spokesperson, said it would issue guidance to counties on the impact of the federal court order on Tuesday’s election. She said the agency was “pleased” with the court’s interpretation, signaling that it would likely tell counties to tally the undated ballots.
ENDSNIP

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mccormick-oz-joust-over-counting-224149711.html

Will be a VEDDY interesting week in both PA and GA.... Sadly, there will be GQP representatives from both states in the fall...

 

Looks to me like the right decision. Elections are not a referendum on people's ability to write a date. They are a referendum on who should govern us. Absolutely immaterial what date they write.

 

Either way this turns out, it give the Trumpers something to scream about. They'll be screaming "Election Fraud !!!!" for the rest of their lives no matter what.

 

I'm a little surprised I haven't seen that start yet on this topic..... clearly, they haven't been told this is something they need to gripe about....... yet....

Wait until the decision comes down from the SOS to count these ballots and the race gets closer and/or Oz falls behind, which would simply be the will of the people....

 

Voting rules might be a lot simpler if legislatures recognized that a decent number of voters in the USA (and worldwide) just aren't that bright...

Oh... also that legislatures wanted every eligible person to vote..

 

Oy vey... And you honestly think this is just a "Trump" battle cry... Don't you? Remember the "good" ole days when the DNC didn't like the results of the 2016 election so they made up a bunch of things to try and overturn the election?? The made up things that the DNC could never get to stick and now proven that the DNC were implicit in their own election manipulation?

And then there was ample others that also screamed "ELECTION FRAUD !!!"

Abrams defends lack of concession after 2018 gubernatorial loss
Karine Jean-Pierre Said the 2016 Election Was ‘Stolen’
Hillary Clinton Labels Trump an ‘Illegitimate President’
Congresswoman Maxine Waters Booed After Objection To Electoral College Count

 

Or..... there will be deflections to previous elections that didn't involve 18 months of unproven fraud claims..

 

This BS of voter fraud started even earlier with republicans.

https://www.politifact.com/factchec...et-philly-rigged-2012-presidential-election-/

 

Never heard of that one... Seems like yet another case of R's not knowing how elections actually work in the areas they challenge....

Not the first time... won't be the last...

At least those numbers were accurate, if suspicious looking.... Everything in 2020 was completely fabricated by the time of certification...

 

Look how far they have gone to the extreme candidate from 2012 and 2008.

 

You know, that's just it. Trump seems to pick "celebrities" or candidates without an opponent to endorse for primaries. His endorsed candidates are unlikely to win general elections.

 

Very true.

 

Don’t worry. We are going to have good company from the Dems who scream it after Trump wins 2024 and the Dems refuse a peaceful transition of power.

 

Going to court.... it's America, folks

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mccormick-sues-over-counting-mail-231404184.html

 

Huh?

 

Oh, you forgot about the 2000 election where the DNC decried "Bush stole the election"?

Heck, liberals didn't just say the 2000 election was stolen, they made some very similar claims on the 2004 election.

Electronic Voting: The Stolen Election of 2004

 

Yeah and Gore conceded, like how its been done since Washington.

We can go back further too.

 

So did Trump. The point being that Democrats have been crying about stolen elections just as long as Republicans and to state otherwise is insanely disingenuous!