For those worried about the PA Supreme Court’s ruling on undated ballots, it may be of some relief to you that this year’s ballot envelope is VERY unambiguous. While I personally find the ruling utterly preposterous I’d also say that the ballot itself is competently designed to compensate for it.Submitted by Trapezoidoid t3_ykckns in Pennsylvania
UnaffiliatedOpinion t1_iuuhlao wrote
Reply to comment by Cash_for_Johnny in For those worried about the PA Supreme Court’s ruling on undated ballots, it may be of some relief to you that this year’s ballot envelope is VERY unambiguous. While I personally find the ruling utterly preposterous I’d also say that the ballot itself is competently designed to compensate for it. by Trapezoidoid
The law says that "the elector must date and sign" the declaration on the envelope. What I believe has happened is that courts held that the meaning of "date" may be ambiguous. For example if someone fills out the ballot one day, seals the envelope on another day, and mails it on another day, which date is supposed to be in the envelope? It's not specified. So if the meaning is ambiguous, it is a slippery slope from there.
But it is specified that a date must be written, so not writing a date at all is clearly not ok.
So yes, it may be that the date requirement is pointless, but it is not necessarily the role of the judge to determine whether a law has a useful purpose or not.
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