The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 1, 2025
Brian is away today, but we’re following up our Friday story on a federal appeals court allowing Pennsylvania mail-in ballots missing a date to be counted. One of the arguments made in that case was about the Materiality Provision. The ACLU case mentioned was refused by the U.S. Supreme Court, and a lower federal court said it didn’t apply to this case. See our Aug. 29 report for more on the case.
Our report on court challenges to undated or misdated mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania mentioned the “Materiality Provision” of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Just what is the Materiality Provision, and how can it help protect voters?
In question are ballot envelopes from otherwise eligible voters, received on time and correct except for a missing or incorrect date on the outer envelope. Pennsylvania’s election law invalidates those ballots, and as many as 10,000 voters were affected in 2022.
The materiality provision, part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s Title 1, was designed to keep racist election officials from rejecting voter registrations for minor mistakes – used as a voter suppression tactic throughout the South. For instance, White voters were given assistance and alerted to mistakes, while Black voters were disenfranchised for a simple spelling error.
For years, federal courts found that Title 1 applies to the whole voting process, and ruled that missing dates, envelopes, and postmarks are “immaterial” to the validity of the ballot. Only recently have Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and other Conservative judges argued that it should apply ONLY to registration, and overturned such appeals.
If a voter does everything else right, but makes a trivial mistake, shouldn’t we make every effort to honor the intent of the voter? The ACLU’s high court appeal may answer that question.
We’ve linked more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Congressional Research Service – The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Eleven Titles at a Glance
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum – Helen L. Brewer – Title I of the Civil Rights Act in Contemporary Voting Rights
Litigation
Protect Democracy – The Constitutionality of the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Democracy Docket – Pennsylvania Orgs Ask SCOTUS To Decide if Rejecting Mail-in Ballots for Date Errors Violates Civil Rights Act
Campaign Legal Center – (2018) CLC Argument Used in Georgia Absentee Ballot Cases
Democracy Docket – This Civil Rights Provision Protects Your Vote from Simple Mistakes
Groups Taking Action:
ACLU, NAACP PA , League of Women Voters PA, Black Political Empowerment Project
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State
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