FILE – In this May 28, 2020, file photo, mail-in primary election ballots are processed at the Chester County Voter Services office in West Chester, Pa. Pennsylvania’s highest court on Thursday, Sept. 17. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal appeals court says a requirement for Pennsylvania voters to put accurate handwritten dates on the outside envelopes of their mail-in ballots doesn’t run afoul of a civil rights law. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday to uphold enforcement of the required date on return envelopes. The dates are a technical mandate that caused thousands of votes to be declared invalid in the 2022 election. The total number is a small fraction of the large state’s electorate. The court’s ruling puts additional attention on Pennsylvania’s election procedures ahead of the presidential election.