Philadelphia has made the unilateral decision to count undated mail ballots from last week’s primary despite a ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court against such actions:
The decision isn’t expected to change the outcome of any races, and one local election lawyer described the court ruling as leaving room for interpretation. But the decision could nevertheless invite further scrutiny or even litigation, just months after the days-long counting of mail ballots in Pennsylvania’s largest city attracted a national spotlight in the final days of a close presidential election.
“For me, this is an issue of enfranchising vs. disenfranchising,” Lisa Deeley, chair of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, the office that runs elections, said before voting to accept the ballots. “Failure to add a date is a minor technicality, otherwise the voter did everything right. Nobody is alleging fraud.”
“What’s happening in Philadelphia is exactly why a growing number of people don’t trust our elections here in America anymore. The state Supreme Court made a clear and decisive ruling stating that undated ballots be rejected. Where is Attorney General Josh Shapiro when Philadelphia decides to play by their own rules? He should be working to make sure the rule of law is upheld and hold Philadelphia to the same uniform standard as everyone else in the Commonwealth. This is one of the many reasons why I strongly opposed Act 77 to begin with. This egregious disregard for the rule of law will only continue to inject chaos and mistrust into our electoral process.” - Former Mayor and Congressman Lou Barletta, Republican candidate for Governor
Original source can be found here.
