Less than a month away from the US presidential election, the key swing state of Pennsylvania has emerged as the main battleground for both parties. On Monday, October 7th, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that election officials in the state will be able to notify voters of any errors in their mailed-in ballots and allow them to make corrections.
Last Saturday, October 5th, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and state Republicans regarding the “notice and cure” procedure. The state Supreme Court cited that the lawsuit filed by the RNC was too close to the election date.
Pennsylvania, along with Virginia, South Dakota, and Minnesota, has already begun early voting.
When the RNC sought to block the county election boards from implementing the “notice and cure” procedure on September 18, they argued that the state legislature did not grant the power to local boards to utilize such procedures.
In a court filing submitted on September 20, the Democratic National Committee and its state affiliate argued that state election law empowers local boards to implement such measures, stating that the ruling sought by the Republicans would prevent local officials from expanding measures for voter participation.
He Qinli, a spokesperson for the campaign, stated in a release that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision was “not a victory for the Democratic Party, but a victory for our democracy.”
An RNC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
This case is one of more than 120 voting-related lawsuits filed by the RNC across 26 states. Republicans claim they are trying to ensure that people do not vote illegally, thereby restoring confidence in the elections and preventing illegal voting.
The Republican efforts have also seen some victories.
In another ruling last Saturday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit brought by a voting rights group against the state’s requirement that mail-in ballots must be dated correctly to be counted. The court also noted that the case was too close to the impending election.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had dismissed a case in September on technical grounds. Previously, a lower court ruled that rejecting ballots due to “meaningless and immaterial clerical errors” like missing a handwritten date violated the constitutional right to vote. Consequently, it is expected that counties will continue to disqualify such ballots. However, some counties, particularly those led by Democrats, are working to help voters correct these errors or allowing them to vote with provisional ballots.
Pennsylvania is the most populous swing state, with 19 electoral votes. In the 2016 election, Trump narrowly carried Pennsylvania by less than 0.75 percentage points, and in the 2020 election, Biden narrowly defeated Trump with a slight advantage. Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state that both parties are eager to win.