Election experts in Pennsylvania expect mostly smooth sailing at the polls this week, with unofficial results for most contests on the April 23 ballot available on election night.
As of Friday morning, the Pennsylvania Department of State has granted around 896,000 mail ballot applications, compared to 1.82 million in the 2020 presidential primary. The government reported that slightly under 80% of voters submitted mail ballots that year.
Voting rights organizations are appealing the ruling, arguing that the missing or inaccurate date is an insignificant error and that rejecting these ballots disenfranchises qualified voters. However, the situation will not change before the primary election.
Election workers can begin processing postal votes as early as 7 a.m. on election day. Allowing this to start before Election Day is usual in states with widespread mail voting.