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ACLU Urges Federal Appeals Court to Order Disqualified Lehigh County Ballots to be Counted

PHILADELPHIA - In a case that could impact thousands of Pennsylvania voters in future elections, the American Civil Liberties Union today urged a federal appeals court to order Lehigh County elections officials to count 257 previously disqualified mail and absentee ballots from the 2021 general election. The voters who submitted these ballots were all eligible voters who submitted their mail and absentee ballots on time to be counted but mistakenly forgot to handwrite a date on the return envelope.


The lawsuit against the county was brought by a bipartisan group of five voters, who are represented by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the ACLU Voting Rights Project. The voters argue that a provision of the federal Civil Rights Act known as the “materiality clause” prohibits disenfranchising 257 voters because dating the return envelope is irrelevant to their eligibility as voters or their timeliness in returning their ballots.


“Voting is a fundamental right and should not be restricted by unnecessary hurdles,” said Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “But that’s exactly what is happening here. Handwriting a date on the return envelope in this context is utterly meaningless. Everyone involved in this case agrees that these 257 voters are eligible and returned their ballots on time. So count their votes.”


The outcome of one judicial race in Lehigh County could be impacted by the decision, as 71 votes separate the two candidates.


The plaintiffs’ argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia was presented today by Ari Savitzky of the ACLU Voting Rights Project. In March, a federal district court in Allentown ruled in favor of disqualifying the ballots, a decision that the voters then appealed.


The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, in favor of the voters, as has the Pennsylvania attorney general.


“Over 150 years of law allow people to challenge government violations of their rights in federal court,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, responding to the district court’s suggestion that only the federal government can enforce the Civil Rights Act. “The courts are, and must be, available to everyone to enforce the promise of the Constitution and federal civil rights laws, including protections for the foundational right to vote.”


The voters are represented by Stephen Loney, Marian Schneider, Richard Ting, Connor Hayes and Witold Walczak of the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Ari J. Savitzky, Adriel I. Cepeda Derieux, and Sophia Lin Lakin of the ACLU Voting Rights Project. More information about the case is available at aclupa.org/LehighBallots
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  • Surreal ValeCity online media
  • October 19 2022 Edition
    • Passion Exhibit Gallery Arte Azulejo
    • Gov Ivey Improved Broadband Access
    • Release Alaska Vital Statistics
    • Gov Lamont Clean Energy Investment Plan
    • Gov Reynolds Appoints Eric Howe
    • Gov Reynolds Iowa Budget Surplus
    • Baker Polito 24 Million Skills Capitol Grants
    • Gov Whitmer Increasing Road Patrol Funding
    • Gov Whitmer Investments Jobs Saginaw
    • First Food Delivery Nevadans in Need
    • Gov Sisolak Statement Escaped Inmate
    • Statement Donald J Trump Sept 27
    • Luna Fest Womens Film Festival
  • Elections 2022
    • Kelly for Alaska >
      • Tshibaka Premiere Energy Summit on Facebook
      • Alaska Radio Station Rejects McConnell Attack
      • Tshibaka Endorsed by America's Candidate Fund
      • New Tshibaka TV Ad Highlights
      • Kelly Tshibaka Endorsed by Edgar Blatchford
      • Tshibaka Time For a Change Education
      • As Fauci Retires Remember Murkowski
      • Kelly Tshibaka Statement Alaska Primary
      • Kelly Tshibaka Closing Primary Argument
      • Confirmed Rank Choice Voting Scheme
      • New Tshibaka Ad Can't Trust
      • Tshibaka Earns A Rating
      • Buzz Kelly Suspends Campaign Endorses Tshibaka
      • Tshibaka Time for a Change Constitutional Rights
      • Murkowski Continues Charade Pressing Haaland
      • Kelly Tshibaka Statement Planned Trump Rally
      • Tshibaka Statement Supreme Court Ruling Abortion
      • Tshibaka Blasts Gun Control Deal
      • Murkowski Embraces Gun Control Package
      • Murkowski Erode 2nd Amendment Rights
      • Tshibaka Endorsed by Harold Hamm
      • Jimmy Carter Lisa Murkowski Create Obstacles
      • Tshibaka Murkowski Gross Disregard Workers
      • Kelly Tshibaka Leaked Draft Supreme Court
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