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Penn Capital Star: Nov. 5 election too close to decide mail-in ballot issues, Pennsylvania Supreme Court says

Monday October 7, 2024 · 9:12 AM

Peter Hall of Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s denial of requests to resolve questions about mail-in ballots because the November election too close.

In a pair of decisions published Saturday evening the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied requests to resolve questions about the commonwealth’s vote-by-mail law in the final few weeks before the Nov. 5 presidential election.

Dismissing a request by the voting rights groups to block the enforcement of a rule requiring mail-in ballots to bear a handwritten date on the return envelope, the Supreme Court said the risk of confusing voters with a change in voting rules was too great.

“This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election,” the unsigned order said.

Chief Justice Debra Todd filed a dissenting statement in which she argued that voters and election officials need guidance in the upcoming election.

“We ought to resolve this important constitutional question now, before ballots may be improperly rejected and voters disenfranchised,” Todd said.

Read more at Pennsylvania Capital-Star.