Today, the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed a joint motion to intervene to protect against Republicans’ attempts to prevent Pennsylvanians’ mail ballots from being counted. Republicans are trying to disqualify timely received mail ballots only because the voter did not write the correct date, or any date, on the outer envelope. These ballots should be counted.
DNC Executive Director Sam Cornale, DSCC Executive Director Christie Roberts, and DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz released the following statement on the motion:
“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. Every eligible voter in Pennsylvania and across the country has a constitutional right to have their voice heard, but Republicans’ assaults on their freedom to cast their ballots would throw away Pennsylvanians’ perfectly legal votes and undermine our democracy. At every turn, as the GOP launches cynical, baseless attacks on Americans’ voting rights, Democrats will intervene on the side of voters.”
Find more on the motion below:
The national Democratic committees are asking to intervene in Pennsylvania State Conference of NAACP Branches v. Secretary, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to ensure that any timely mail ballots that are undated or incorrectly dated are counted in all future elections, as the date listed by the voter (or the absence of any date) is not material to their eligibility or the validity of their vote.
Republicans have been fighting in both state and federal court to prevent these ballots from being counted since the 2020 presidential election. Voters deserve clarity on this issue as we head into 2024 and should never have their ballot rejected simply because the date on the envelope is either missing or incorrect.
Millions of Pennsylvanians of both parties cast their votes using mail-in ballots. In the 2022 midterms, more than 1.4 million Pennsylvanians requested ballots by mail, and during the 2020 general election, more than 2.6 million of the more than 6.9 million Pennsylvanians who voted did so via mail and absentee ballot.
This case is moving quickly and the Democratic committees are asking to intervene to ensure that the rights of Pennsylvania voters are fully protected as we head into a critical election year.
