A slight inconvenience for mail-in voters is unconstitutional, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled in a win for Democrats that challenged it.
The subject of the case in Erie federal court was part of “vote by mail” rules established by the state in 2019 that require mail-in voters to put the date of their vote on the outside envelope.
Voter Bette Eakin was joined by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Federation of Teachers in opposing the rule, while Republican groups mounted a defense on behalf of Pennsylvania’s 67 county boards of elections named as defendants.
“Since there is no evidence that the date requirement serves any state interest, even a slight burden on voting rights cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny,” Judge Susan Paradise Baxter wrote.