In this Oct. 13, 2020, photo, an envelope of a Pennsylvania official mail-in ballot for the 2020 general election in Marple Township, Pa. The Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania to count ballots received up to three days after the election, rejecting a Republican plea. The justices divided 4-4 on Oct. 19, an outcome that upholds a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed election officials to receive and count ballots until Nov. 6, even if they don’t have a clear postmark. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s high court says officials aren’t allowed to count votes from mail-in or absentee ballots that lack accurate, handwritten dates on their return envelopes. The state Supreme Court made the unanimous ruling Tuesday. That’s one week before tabulation will begin in races for governor, the U.S. Senate and the state Legislature. The court is directing county boards of elections to “segregate and preserve” those ballots. Pennsylvania counties have reported receiving more than 850,000 completed mail-in ballots from the roughly 1.4 million that voters have requested. About 70% of requests have come from Democrats and about 20% from Republicans.