The Republican National Committee and other major campaign organs of the party on Monday seized on a recent Supreme Court order in an attempt to get undated and incorrectly dated Pennsylvania absentee ballots invalidated for the upcoming elections.
The Republican candidate, who lost by a handful of votes, asked the Supreme Court to nullify the appellate court’s decision.
Last week, the Court complied. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, had written previously that the Third Circuit’s decision was “very likely wrong” and invited an involved party to file a petition for certiorari so the justices could correct it.
The RNC, joined by the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, heeded the conservative justice’s advice and went to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Is it even possible to demonstrate a more blatant example of abuse of the judicial system for political purposes than this? The coordination between the RW Justices on the SCOTUS and the RNC could not me more clear. Their very actions invalidate their legitimacy as an impartial interpreter of the Constitution.
Furthermore, there is no expiration date on my Constitutional Right to vote!!!
Why Oh Why are Republicans afraid of voters? Oh yeah, I forgot. They don’t work for their constituents. They work only for themselves and their wealthy donors.
This is the headliner:
“The Republicans argue that there is not enough time for “ordinary processes of law” to play out over the dating issue, so the Pennsylvania Supreme Court should just issue the order now. This immediately pre-election chaos was inevitable ever since the Supreme Court handed down the order to nullify the appellate court decision just a few weeks before the election . . .”
The double standard hypocrisy is mind numbing.
The case was moot. The election at issue was already certified and final. It’s not really a big deal.
Is this another one of those self-owns that the GQP seems so fond of these days? I mean, thinking about which voter demographics are most likely to get all confoozled about ballot instructions and make some trivial mistake, I’d be inclined to list old people pretty high on the probability scale. And if PA’s age-vs-politics voting patterns are like they are elsewhere … well …
Pennsylvania’s vote-by-mail ballots are placed inside a secrecy envelope which is then placed inside the outer mailing envelope. There is no valid reason that the outer envelope needs to be dated.
But since the outer mailing envelopes have been redesigned to combat confusion, I also don’t think that this is a big deal.
The outer envelopes that were being questioned in 2021 were poorly designed, and had the (unnecessary) date area separated from the signature area. That caused confusion for some voters. The date area looked like it belonged to the witness signature area. The witness signature is for people who are unable to sign their name. Those envelopes looked like this -
This year’s outer envelope has been redesigned. I don’t think that it will confuse anyone. It looks like this -
I must have missed something. If the case was mooted, how do the Rs draw the conclusion that the undated or misdated votes should be thrown out? (I mean besides that “throw the votes for the other guy out “ is their default,)
This is somewhat reassuring.
But that “voter mark here” space on the right could still be clearer. I’m waiting for the challenges on those where an able-bodied voter marks something there when it wasn’t necessary.
One thing about the GOP: They are quite enthusiastic. That’s what happens when–demographically–they need every vote (any way they can).
There is no good reason that the envelope needs to be dated, but it is required by the statute. What I find interesting, as a matter of statutory interpretation, is that the statute prescribes how the absentee voter is supposed to sign and date, but does not provide for any consequences to the ballot if the voter doesn’t follow the instructions correctly. It does not appear to provide that such ballots are disqualified.
As @brian512 mentioned above, it could be a self-own.
Even though more Democrats vote by mail, the Democratic candidates have been hammering the message to remember to date the outside envelope. The Republican candidates barely mention vote-by-mail.
The federal case sought remedy under federal civil rights law. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court case seeks remedy under state law. Same general subject matter, different laws.
I stand corrected. Thank you.
Even when you’re annoying, it’s good to have you around. 
Our ballots also reminded voters on the back of the mailing envelope (where the box is) not to forget to sign and date it.
We read over the ballot carefully and checked it twice and then made sure all the t’s were crossed and i’s dotted. Not taking any chances.
I disagree and think this is a very big reason for concern about the Supreme Court interfering in the elections.
That is even if we ignore the double standard that coimmigrant discusses, what the Republican court is doing is laying the foundation for meddling after the election.
Just like how SCOTUS interfered in 2020 and now we’re stuck with Trump for life. 
SCOTUS did in fact lay the groundwork for Trump to steal a CLOSE 2020 election and in fact it was followed by Trump and Republicans in their “fake electors” scheme. It did not work mostly because in truth the 2020 election was just not close enough. But had Republicans only needed to steal a single state, it cannot be stated for sure but it also cannot be overstated that we may have been in a different place.
That is the fake elector scheme Republicans tried in 2020 to keep Trump in power after loosing the election came directly from the Supreme Court’s “independent legislature theory” that allows Republican controlled legislatures to pick winners without regard to who got the most votes and with no oversight from state court, federal court, state constitution of even the U.S. constitution.
I mean had Trump only needed to overturn a single state instead of at least 3 states to win the 2020 election, and now with more time to get the legal theory and needed apparatuses in place in several states, we should all be very concerned.
So can if I live in PA and vote can I date my ballot and outer envelope in Starfleet style, Mayan calendar, or Jewish calendar? Or will they want to toss a ballot that has a different date on ballot than the envelope?
And don’t get me started on matching signatures.
Its all about power for Republicans, and sadly, the 6 right wingers on the Supreme Court are all in on making any ruling they can to give more power to their party.
They know they are in the minority and will never be the majority, so they are grabbing power and suppressing the will of the majority.
If Democrats manage to hold the Senate, they better pack the court before the court declares the Democratic party illegal.
