Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – The U.S. Supreme Court voted on Thursday to allow the counting and tally of undated mail-in votes in an election in 2021 for a Pennsylvania judgeship. It was a decision that once more revealed tensions within the judiciary over voting rights.

David Ritter is a Republican candidate for the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas Judgeship. This means that Pennsylvania officials are now able to count 250 postal ballots that were not handwritten. Ritter sued the county board for elections, claiming he could lose the race if the votes are counted.

Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito, three conservative justices, dissented. They said the court shouldn’t have prevented the ballots from being counted. A conservative majority of 6-3 judges makes up the court. There have been many times when the nine justices split over voting issues. It was usually on ideologic lines that divided conservatives and liberals.

Alito expressed concern about the fact that the ruling of the lower court in this case could “well affect” the outcome of the November elections. Pennsylvania has a close-knit U.S. Senate race between Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman. This could impact which party holds the majority of seats in the chamber.

A May ruling of the Philadelphia-based Third U.S. still stands. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the undated votes could be counted.

In 2020, Pennsylvania was at the forefront of presidential elections. The fight over Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot rules saw Joe Biden defeat Republican Donald Trump. This helped to fuel Trump’s false allegations of voter fraud.

Ritter’s case was ruled by the 3rd Circuit that Ritter violated a federal Civil Rights Act provision. The failure to include the date in a mail-in ballot does not determine whether or not the ballot is valid. Therefore, it should be counted. This provision is intended to protect the right of voters.