Pennsylvania appeals court rules dating requirement for mail ballot envelopes violates state Constitution

 A Pennsylvania appeals court said Wednesday that the requirement that mail-in voters handwrite the correct date on their ballot violates the state Constitution — but it is not yet clear how the ruling will apply going forward.

The ruling comes in a dispute over ballots that were rejected in a previous election in Philadelphia. Voting rights advocates have filed several lawsuits trying to strike down the dating requirement, including with a case pending at the US Supreme Court that will not be resolved before Election Day. It may take additional proceedings to determine whether the new appeals court ruling will apply statewide in this election.

Voters are instructed to write the date on which they filled out the ballot. However, the requirement has led to the rejection of thousands of ballots in past elections, as voters sometimes put their birthdate or other incorrect dates, or forget to date the ballot envelope altogether.

“Enforcement of the dating provisions has resulted in the arbitrary and baseless rejection of thousands of timely ballots, resulting in disenfranchisement in violation of the free and equal elections clause,” the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania said in its ruling Wednesday.

Republican sources did not immediately respond to CNN’s inquiry as to whether they will seek to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, as they have done in other cases where mail ballot rules have been loosened.