"Federal law prohibits a state from erecting immaterial roadblocks, such as this, to voting," Judge Baxter, appointed by former President Donald Trump, wrote at the time, referring to the Pennsylvania law.
According to the law, a voter casting a ballot by mail must mark the ballot, then place it inside a provided envelope.
"If this ruling stands, thousands of Pennsylvania voters could lose their vote over a meaningless paperwork error. The ballots in question in this case come from voters who are eligible and who met the submission deadline," Mike Lee, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
"In passing the Civil Rights Act, Congress put a guardrail in place to be sure that states don't erect unnecessary barriers that disenfranchise voters. It's unfortunate that the court failed to recognize that principle. Voters lose as a result of this ruling."
Justice Samuel Alito has said that the Pennsylvania law did not appear to violate the Civil Rights Act provision because it did not deny people the right to vote.
Judge Ambro offered similar rationale, writing that the provision "Targets laws that restrict who may vote" and "Does not preempt state requirements on how qualified voters may cast a valid ballot, regardless what purpose those rules serve."
U.S. Circuit Judge Patty Shwartz, an appointee of President Barack Obama and the third member of the panel that ruled, said in a dissent that the provision "Means that state actors cannot deprive a voter of the right to vote due to an error or omission he makes on papers that he must complete to have his ballot counted, including on papers distinct from application or registration forms, if the mistake is not relevant to the State's ability to ascertain whether he is qualified under state law to vote in the election."
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