The recent ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding the counting of mail-in ballots has brought attention to the potential impact on the upcoming presidential election. The court overturned a previous decision that would have excluded mail-in ballots with incorrect or missing dates on the outer envelope. This decision underscores the significance of Pennsylvania as a crucial battleground state in determining the outcome of the election.
In the 2020 election, Pennsylvania played a pivotal role, with Joe Biden winning the state by a narrow margin of 1.2 percentage points. The issue of mail-in ballot validity has also surfaced in other battleground states. In North Carolina, Republicans are challenging ballots that do not comply with inner-secrecy envelope requirements, while in Georgia, there is a dispute over the accuracy of voter birthdates on outer envelopes.
Similar legal battles are unfolding in Michigan and Nevada, where Republicans are pushing for stricter rules on signature matching and the rejection of ballots received after Election Day, respectively. These disputes have raised concerns about the potential delay in determining the election results, especially as more Americans opt for mail-in voting, which takes longer to process than in-person voting.
The increased reliance on mail-in voting has also highlighted challenges faced by the U.S. Postal Service, as highlighted by reports of lost or delayed election mail and inconsistent guidelines for postal workers. Despite assurances from the Postal Service that they can handle the volume of mail-in ballots, concerns persist about potential disenfranchisement of voters due to administrative failures.
State officials, such as Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, have raised alarms about the impact of postal service failures on election integrity. Schwab cited instances in Kansas where voters were disenfranchised in the primary election due to ballots arriving without postmarks, leading to their rejection under state law. The frustration over such incidents underscores the need for clear and consistent postal service practices to ensure that all legally cast votes are counted.
