The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that election officials must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected.
The ruling upholds a lower court decision in September and is a blow to the Republican National Committee (RNC), which argued in court alongside the Butler County Board of Elections that the state Election Code does not allow a voter’s provisional ballot to be counted if their mail-in ballot is returned on time—even if a voter suspects or is told that their mail-in ballot was rejected.
The lawsuit was first filed by Butler County voters Faith Genser and Frank Matis, who both cast a vote in person during the 2024 primary election after they were notified that their mail-in ballots were rejected because they failed to enclose their ballots in a secrecy envelope before returning them. Genser and Matis were later notified that their provisional ballots were also not counted.
Pennsylvania is among a handful of key swing states that could determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. The state’s high court also ruled against Republicans earlier this month after declining to hear a lawsuit brought by the RNC that challenged whether election officials can notify voters of mistakes on their mail-in ballots and allow them to make changes. Jurists ruled that the suit was filed too close to the November 5 election.
“Our electoral systems must be designed to ensure that all eligible voters are permitted to cast a ballot and have their ballot counted,” Public Interest Law Center attorney Ben Geffen said in a statement Wednesday. The center, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, represented Genser and Matis in the case.
“The state Supreme Court’s ruling today means that every eligible voter across the commonwealth can have confidence that, if they make a mistake with their mail ballot return packet, they’ll have the chance to submit a provisional ballot that will be counted in this critical election,” Geffen added.
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Newsweek reached out to the RNC via email for comment on Wednesday.
The RNC has filed more than 100 lawsuits across 26 states aimed at voting practices. The committee says the legal challenges are intended to restore faith in elections and ensure votes are cast legally.
Republicans did receive a win in Pennsylvania earlier this month after the state Supreme Court declined to hear a case backed by a voting rights group challenging the requirement of mail-in ballots having the correct date in order to be counted. Republicans argued that the date requirement was essential in safeguarding the election. The Supreme Court said at the time that the case was also filed too close to the election.
RNC Chair Michael Whatley said in a statement shared with Reuters that the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the date requirement case was “a huge win for election integrity, and Pennsylvania voters can cast their mail ballots with confidence.”
Update 10/23/24, 7:58 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.
