The Fetterman campaign is suing to have invalid mail-in ballots counted in this midterm election.
Specifically, they want mail-in ballots counted even if they have no date or have an invalid date written on them.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has already ruled that mail-in ballots that are undated or have an invalid date on them must be not be counted.
But the Fetterman campaign, joined by others, are asking a federal court to overrule the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to allow the invalid ballots be counted.
Here’s more via the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s campaign for U.S. Senate has joined the legal fight over whether mail ballots with no date or the incorrect date should be counted in Tuesday’s election.
The Democratic campaign sued Pennsylvania elections officials Monday asking a federal judge to order that all mail ballots be counted regardless of what date, if any, voters wrote on the outside of the envelope.
State law requires that voters handwrite a date on the outer envelope when returning their mail ballots, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last week that undated and wrongly dated mail ballots be set aside and not counted. The court issued a follow-up order Saturday setting specific date ranges that the handwritten dates must fall within.
There will likely be tens of thousands of undated and wrongly dated ballots rejected statewide under that ruling. Because mail ballots are so disproportionately used by Democrats over Republicans, that will likely mean thousands, if not tens of thousands, of net votes for Fetterman that are rejected.
Fetterman is locked in a tight race with celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee, a contest that will help determine which party controls the Senate. And in a campaign that polls suggest is neck-and-neck, every vote counts.
The Fetterman campaign sued in federal court in Pittsburgh, joined by the the Democrats’ U.S. House and Senate campaign arms, as well as two Democratic voters in Erie County who submitted undated mail ballots. They argue that the handwritten date requirement is a technicality and not used to determine whether votes were legally cast.
Throwing out ballots over such a technicality, they argue, violates federal civil rights law.
”The date [requirement] imposes unnecessary hurdles that eligible Pennsylvanians must clear to exercise their most fundamental right, resulting in otherwise valid votes being arbitrarily rejected without any reciprocal benefit to the Commonwealth,” their lawsuit reads.
That’s the biggest bunch of bull poop I’ve read in a while. How is putting the correct date on the ballot a ‘hurdle’ for anyone? And just how stupid does the Fetterman campaign think people are?
Seriously, if someone can read and write then they should know how to put the correct date on the outer envelope of your ballot.
This all part the verification process of a valid ballot and Fetterman can’t just throw it out the window because he thinks he’s losing. Bypassing state law on this would also open up the door to cheating, which we all know Democrats are all about, especially if they are losing.
I hope the federal court throws the case out or refuses to give Fetterman the injunction they want.