RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A judge has ruled that Virginia elections officials cannot count absentee ballots with missing or illegible postmarks unless they can confirm the date of mailing through a barcode.
The ruling Wednesday granted an injunction requested by a conservative legal group. The Public Interest Legal Foundation sued the Virginia Department of Elections and members of the Virginia State Board of Elections earlier this month.
The lawsuit challenges a regulation that instructed local election officials to count absentee ballots with unreadable postmarks, as long as the ballots are received by noon on the Friday after Election Day.
The lawsuit alleged that the regulation violates a 2020 state election law that says absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 6 will be counted.