A new lawsuit filed Tuesday by a constellation of left-wing groups in Pennsylvania seeks to prevent thousands of mail-in ballots from being thrown out in the November election in a state expected to play a crucial role in selecting a new president .
The lawsuit, filed in state court, is the latest of perhaps a half-dozen cases challenging a provision in Pennsylvania law that requires voters to record the date when they sign their ballot.
PENNSYLVANIA CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES TO MISS BALLOT AFTER LEGISLATIVE TALK
Voters' failure to understand this provision has led to tens of thousands of ballots being thrown out since Pennsylvania dramatically expanded mail-in voting in 2019.
A new lawsuit filed by left-wing groups in Pennsylvania seeks to prevent thousands of mail-in ballots from being thrown out in the November election. (Fox News)
The latest lawsuit says multiple courts have found that a date written by the voter is meaningless in determining whether the ballot arrived on time and whether the voter is eligible. As a result, rejecting someone's ballot because it lacks a date or an accurate date would violate the Free and Equal Elections Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the 68-page lawsuit said.
“This lawsuit is the only one that squarely challenges the constitutionality of voter disenfranchisement under the Pennsylvania Constitution,” said Marian Schneider, an attorney on the case and senior policy advisor on voting rights for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.
Enforcement of the dating provision has resulted in at least 10,000 ballots being thrown out in the 2022 midterm elections alone, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit names Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro's top elections official, as well as boards of elections in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, both heavily Democratic jurisdictions.
However, Democrats have fought to overturn the dating requirement, while Republicans have fought in court in the past to ensure counties can throw out mail-in ballots that do not contain a complete or correct date.
About three-quarters of mail-in ballots are cast by Democrats in Pennsylvania, possibly due to former President Donald Trump's baseless claims that mail-in voting is rife with fraud.
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The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Black Political Empowerment Project, POWER Interfaith, Make the Road Pennsylvania, OnePA Activists United, New PA Project Education Fund, Casa San José, Pittsburgh United, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and Common Cause Pennsylvania.
A separate challenge to the date requirement is currently pending in federal court over whether it violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. In March, a divided 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the date requirement does not violate civil rights law.
