What’s Happening:

The Supreme Court’s current session is coming to a close. And the highest court in the land is pushing out many decisions before time is up.

Many of these decisions will have an impact on the nation for years to come. But one recent ruling could influence the crucial 2011 midterms.

And 3 conservative justices sided with the left.

From ABC News:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave the green light to counting undated mail-in ballots in a contested Pennsylvania local election, a move with potentially broader implications for close races in November’s midterm elections.

Over the objection of three justices, the Court restored a federal appeals court ruling that said disqualifying ballots received on time but lacking a handwritten date on the return envelope would violate federal voting rights.

Three conservative justices sided with liberal justices to rule that undated mail-in ballots in a local Pennsylvania election can be counted—despite state law.

Pennsylvania law requires someone voting to sign and date the ballot. Without that date, election workers have to reject the ballot.

It is a simple measure to ensure that the voter voted on time—and they are who they say they are.

But the six Supreme Court justices decided that the ballot would have been “postmarked” when mailed and dated again by election officials when they receive it.

But knowing what we know about election officials (especially from Pennsylvania), those are not safe enough measures.

How do we know the election official was dating it correctly? How do we know these ballots were even sent through the Post Office and did not arrive with an 11th-hour “dump”?

Without evidence that the voter did in fact fill this out before the deadline and mailed it in themselves, we should worry about its validity.

After all, how can someone properly fill out the ballot, sign their name, and not bother to date it?

The dissenting justices were Alito, Gorsuch (a Trump pick), and Thomas. Alito wrote this decision could “affect the outcome” of the upcoming elections.

The silver lining is that this is not a binding precedent. It does not mean every ballot in every election has to be counted.

But it does leave this crucial issue unresolved, leaving the door open for more—dragged out—legal battles in the future.

Key Takeaways:

• The Supreme Court ruled in favor of counting undated mail-in ballots in a PA election.
• Three of the conservative justices voted with the liberal wing.
• Alito warned this could affect the outcome of the upcoming midterms.

Source: ABC News