Pennsylvania: State Supreme Court rules that mail-in ballots without correct dates will not be counted

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Friday that mail-in ballots that have incorrect dates will not be counted in the upcoming November election.

The ruling comes just two weeks after the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania stayed enforcement of handwritten dates on outer envelopes. The Supreme Court ruling, in contrast, maintains that mail-in ballots must be properly dated in order to be counted.

According to a court filing cited by Fox News Digital, the state Supreme ruled on procedural grounds, arguing that the lower court should not have taken the case because it did not draw the election boards of all 67 counties.

The progressive groups that brought the case also failed, the opinion said, because they sued only two counties, Philadelphia and Allegheny.

As a result, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the lower Commonwealth Court "lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the matter."

Republicans celebrated the high court's ruling, asserting that the decision protects the integrity of the upcoming electoral process, which will take place in November.

In contrast, self-described voting rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, said they will continue to work and pursue legal options to reverse the ruling.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices split, ruling 4-3, with two Democratic justices joining the two Republican justices in overturning the Commonwealth Court's decision.

Pennsylvania is one of the most important states in the upcoming election and may even be decisive. Multiple election experts agree whichever candidate wins Pennsylvania, whether Harris or Trump, will very likely prevail in the rest of the Rust Belt states, paving his or her way to the White House.

In 2020, the difference between Biden and Trump was narrow, a mere 80,000 votes apart.

At this point it is a toss up between the two of them, with Trump and Harris maintaining a tie in most polls in the state.