RNC Appeals Supreme Court on Mail-in Voting Rules

On Wednesday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) requested the Supreme Court to uphold crucial mail-in voting protections in Pennsylvania.

The petition urges the justices to reconsider a lower court ruling, which claims that states cannot eliminate undated or incorrectly dated mail-in ballots from being counted.

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters emphasized that Pennsylvania’s date requirement for mail-in ballots serves as a logical safeguard for election integrity. He stated, “Counting ballots that don’t meet basic requirements, like having a date, goes against Pennsylvania law and diminishes public trust in elections. We call on the Supreme Court to review this matter and affirm that states can enforce sensible election regulations such as Pennsylvania’s date rules.”

A ruling from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in August found that Pennsylvania’s request conflicts with the First and 14th Amendments. They declined to review the commission’s decision from October.

In their opinion, the three justices noted, “Balancing the state’s interest against the burden this imposes on Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to vote, we find this practice unconstitutional.”

Bette Eakin, a voter whose mail-in ballot was rejected during the midterms, initiated a lawsuit in 2022, accompanied by several Democratic factions. In this original lawsuit, Pennsylvania State Senator John Fetterman aims to guarantee the inclusion of undated and incorrectly dated ballots.

According to a Third Circuit panel, over 10,000 ballots were discarded in the 2022 midterms due to date complications.

Fetterman secured a victory against 2022 Republican candidate Mehmet Oz by 4.9%, translating to around 263,752 votes.

Judge Emile Bove, who was recently appointed by Trump and worked in the Justice Department early in his administration, commented in an October paper that filling out a date should take less than five seconds for an average voter with basic writing skills.

The RNC’s petition also pointed out that the Third Circuit has been rejecting challenges to this date requirement since 2019. They claim the recent ruling deviates from several Supreme Court precedents and creates further divisions across different circuits.

The petition stresses, “Pennsylvania law mandates that voters returning mail ballots must complete, date, and sign a declaration on the return envelope. This requirement has been in place for decades for absentee voting and was broadened to all mail-in voting by a bipartisan agreement in 2019.”

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the RNC’s case, it would add to a series of discussions on election integrity they will review this year.

Earlier in January, the Supreme Court decided that political candidates could challenge vote-counting regulations, allowing Republican Illinois Rep. Michael Bost’s lawsuit about counting mail-in ballots post-Election Day to proceed. Separately, in March, considerations were made regarding the case of Watson v. RNC, which could affect the counting of mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day.