The Supreme Court of Pa. allows voters to cast provisional ballots if mail-in ballots are rejected

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that voters can cast provisional ballots after their mail-in ballots are rejected for not following procedural instructions.

The Commonwealth Supreme Court made the decision Wednesday, which will likely affect billions of the ballots cast, The New York Times reported.

The 4-3 decision said the Butler County Board of Elections must count provisional ballots cast by several voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected for not including mandatory secrecy envelopes. Pennsylvania voters must sign and date the secret envelopes before mailing their ballots.

The ruling allows Pennsylvania voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected for not having the secret envelope or for having missing or inaccurate information on the envelope to cast provisional ballots.

Provisional ballots are counted only after voter registration is verified. Many counties in the commonwealth will notify voters if their mail-in ballots are rejected for procedural reasons and allow them to cast provisional ballots.

The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania GOP appealed to the Commonwealth Supreme Court, arguing that the Butler County Board of Elections had properly rejected provisional ballots after mail-in ballots had also been rejected.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party participated in the appeal of the case.

“While Republicans try to block your vote, Democrats protect it and defend the principle that all eligible voters have the right to make their voices heard, regardless of how they vote,” said spokespeople for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and the Democratic National. the committee said in a joint statement. “This ruling reaffirms that principle.”