Why are undated mail ballots such a big deal in Pennsylvania?

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court is expected to soon rule on a case that could decide whether undated mail ballots can be counted in the quickly approaching Nov. 8 election.

The case comes after years of highly partisan litigation that yielded no firm legal consensus on how counties should treat the ballots.

Under state law, a person who casts a mail ballot must sign and date a declaration on the outer envelope. Undated ballots have missing or incorrect dates, but are otherwise turned in on time to county election offices and are eligible to be counted.