America First Legal, alongside attorney Christopher Mills, has filed an amicus brief in Pennsylvania v. Eakin, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a case challenging Pennsylvania’s requirement that mail-in voters handwrite a date on their ballot return envelope. The filing argues the court should resolve a growing split among federal appeals courts over how standard election rules are evaluated.
The case stems from a lower court ruling that sided with plaintiffs who claimed the dating requirement violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments, a decision later upheld by the Third Circuit despite acknowledging the burden as “minimal.” AFL contends the ruling misapplies constitutional scrutiny, arguing the requirement is a basic compliance step that does not create a constitutional injury.
The brief emphasizes that most federal circuits apply a more deferential standard to neutral election rules, while the Third Circuit applied a stricter review and discounted the state’s interests in election integrity, fraud prevention, and orderly administration. AFL maintains courts should not override legislatures by treating routine procedures as constitutional violations.
AFL attorneys said the case presents an opportunity for the Supreme Court to clarify the standard and reaffirm that election authority rests with state legislatures, not the courts.
