The Pennsylvania Supreme Court — a majority Democratic Party panel — on Friday ruled in favor of a Republican-led request to affirm that mail-in ballots returned with missing or incorrect dates cannot be counted this election cycle.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed an emergency appeal to ensure that election workers did not point to a lower court’s decision made earlier in the week, which claimed that counting such ballots was a violation of the state constitution.

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Justices ultimately ruled 3-2 in the their decision, which was made on a case concerning 69 ballots that contained incomplete or incorrect dates in a September special election. Republicans raised concerns that the lower court’s decision would undermine election integrity and create uncertainty in the days leading up to the pivotal presidential election, where polling has remained neck-and-neck.

In an order released Friday, the court stated that the lower ruling “shall not be applied to the November 5, 2024 General Election.”

In a concurring opinion, Justice Kevin Dougherty criticized the lower court for making monumental rulings so close to an election, stating that they have “repeatedly taken the bait” despite a number of warnings.

“To reiterate the point once more: we said what we meant, and we meant what we said. Moving forward, lower courts should think twice — maybe even three times — before granting relief that could arguably be construed as imposing ‘substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election,’” Dougherty wrote.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling does not make any substantial changes to existing electoral procedures in the Keystone State, as the court has previously rejected another effort to count undated or misdated ballots on procedural grounds.

Republicans have long opposed the counting of ballots with incorrect dates in Pennsylvania, arguing that a correct date is required under state law. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) have argued that the requirement is meaningless, stating that ballots are timestamped upon their arrival at local election officers.

The DNC, as well as the two voters who filed the lawsuit, have hinted at additional challenges to the procedure after the election.

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