Pennsylvania Court Invalidates 2,349 Absentee Ballots Where Voter Did Not Date Their Declaration

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A Pennsylvania court invalidated 2,349 absentee ballots in Allegheny County where voters did not date their declaration.

The decision by Commonwealth Court Judge P. Kevin Brobson on Thursday is a reversal of a lower court’s ruling.

“…[There] is an obvious and salutary purpose behind the requirement that a voter date the declaration. The date provides a measure of security, establishing the date on which the elector actually executed the ballot in full, ensuring their desire to cast it in lieu of appearing in person at a polling place. The presence of the date also establishes a point in time against which to measure the elector’s eligibility to cast the ballot, as reflected in the body of the declaration itself,” Judge Brobson wrote.

The votes in question will not be counted “because the votes are invalid as a matter of law,” Brobson added.

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