Mail-in, absentee and provisional ballots that lack a date cannot be included in the recount of Pennsylvania's Senate race between Republican Dave McCormick and Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday.
To be counted, a ballot needs a correct, handwritten date on the return envelope, the court said, upholding a previous ruling. Election boards in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, among others, ruled last week in favor of counting the undated ballots, spurring a lawsuit from the Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party.
MORE: Pennsylvania prepares for recount in U.S. Senate race between Bob Casey and Dave McCormick
Monday's decision finalizes the ongoing issue.
"The Election Code commands absentee and mail-in electors to date the declaration that appears upon ballot return envelopes, and failure to comply with that command renders a ballot invalid as a matter of Pennsylvania law," the order reads.
The ruling comes as the state's 67 counties are set to begin tallying ballots again in a race that the Associated Press called in favor of McCormick last week. Each county must begin its recount no later than Wednesday. Results must be reported to the Department of State by Tuesday, Nov. 26.
The state's unofficial results show McCormick gained 48.84% of the vote to Casey's 48.58%. Pennsylvania law requires an automatic recount whenever the margin of victory is less than 0.5%.
McCormick's campaign said the Supreme Court ruling was a "massive setback" for Casey, the AP reported.
Bucks, Philadelphia and Montgomery officials argued that not counting the undated ballots amounts to voter disenfranchisement. The ruling left little room for interpretation, specifically naming those counties and ordering them to comply.
"It is critical to the rule of law that individual counties and municipalities and their elected and appointed officials, like any other parties, obey orders of this Court," wrote Justice David Wecht, a Democrat, in a statement on the order.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said counties were "damned if they did and damned if they didn’t" count the votes, noting a lack of clarity in state election laws. But he urged election officials to follow the order.
"The Department of State had advised counties repeatedly of their duty to segregate challenged provisional ballots and undated ballots in anticipation of a ruling by the court," Shapiro said in a statement. "I expect all county election officials to adhere to this ruling and all the applicable laws governing our elections."