On March 27, 2024, the federal appeals court for the 3rd Circuit (covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) issued its latest opinion (appeal docket # No. 23-3166) in the ongoing ping-pong game over election integrity.  The appeals court reversed a November 2023 opinion by a federal district court in Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State Conference of NAACP Branches, et al. v. Secretary, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al.).

The November decision by the federal district court in Pennsylvania attempted to gut certain safeguards related to no-excuse mail-in ballots.  The lower court ruling required local boards of elections to accept mail-in ballots that were undated and mis-dated — even those ballots that were dated after Election Day or before the registration office had begun mailing ballots to voters.  The date requirement is a bare-minimum safeguard that makes fraudulent voting only somewhat more difficult.  Because the appeals court reversed the lower court, this minimum safeguard has been restored.

The appeals court decision does nothing but restore the status quo that existed during all elections from November 2023 back through 2020.  This decision does not restore the status quo from before the adoption of no-excuse mail-in balloting.  Voting is no more safe or secure than it has been since 2020.  There has been no election that took place under the lower court’s November ruling.  The appeals court decision in March merely prevented the situation from getting worse.

The appeals court decision turned on the narrowest of grounds.  The decision simply followed the language of the Pennsylvania statute that required signatures and dates on mail-in ballots.  The Court upheld the power of the state Legislature to enact statutes in this area.  The court did not base its decision on the crucial need for election integrity.  The court did not address the many irregularities that occurred in 2020 and afterward.  The court did not address allegations of irregularities that remain pending in other courts related to the 2020 election.  The court did not address any of the more than 65 lawsuits that were filed in response to the 2020 election.  (The failure to address those issues is considered standard, as those cases and those issues were not before the court in this case.)

The court addressed only a narrow distinction in federal civil rights legislation by ruling that (1) how someone votes and (2) who may vote are two different issues.  The left is already looking for ways to evade this distinction.  Had the Pennsylvania statute been more permissive regarding mail-in ballot dates, the court ruling would have followed that statute.  New laws will be passed.  New court cases will begin.  They will never rest until they find some way to make voting meaningless and to water down every legitimate vote.

While the March decision was correct, we should not celebrate it as a restoration of election integrity.  We have not won the battle over elections.  We face the same issues we faced in November 2020 that resulted in Joe Biden’s handlers claiming 81 million votes.

As of right now, election boards must reject mail-in ballots that are dated either after Election Day or before the ballots were printed and mailed by the local registration office.  They must reject “naked” ballots that arrive without the inner envelope.  They must reject unsigned ballots.  They must reject multiple ballots that arrive in the same envelope.  The boards cannot ignore these requirements by simply assuming that minorities cannot follow them or do not know what day it is.  No doubt, leftists will continue to press those arguments without stating them explicitly.

The above requirements apply in Pennsylvania.  Because the court sits atop the 3rd Circuit, the signature requirements may also apply in New Jersey and Delaware if those states’ statutes are similar to Pennsylvania’s.  That issue may yet be litigated.

It is up to poll-watchers and state and local Republican parties to make sure that the law is followed.  We are permitted to observe local election activities on Election Day (or on however many election days the government attempts to use).  Only by monitoring and reporting such activities will we have a chance at upholding the law — weak as it might be.

I have heard election officials state that they hope someday the 2020 election will be behind us once and for all.  But wishing for a disputed issue to go away does not solve the problem.  The left does not abandon its favorite issues even after leftists win.  They have produced more movies, television programs, and books about Watergate than can be counted just in the past ten years.  The left has never stopped and will never stop talking about Watergate.  We must treat the as yet unaddressed 2020 issues the same way.  Until the 2020 issues are finally addressed, no election will be safe.

One day, 2020 will be forgotten.  It is up to us to decide whether election integrity is forgotten also.

Image via Picryl.