Explainer: ‘Naked’ Ballots Loom Over US Election, as Trump Blasts Mail-in Voting

As Republican President 👤Donald Trump assails the use of mail-in voting, a Pennsylvania court decision over the use of envelopes for hiding the identity of mail-in voters could have major ramifications for the Nov. 3 election between Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

One official in the state has warned the ruling could lead to confusion and the disenfranchisement of more than 100,000 voters in the crucial battleground state.

In an interview on Fox News Radio, Trump on Thursday called mail-in ballots “a horror show,” despite studies showing no significant problems with that method of voting over the years.

Here are some more details on the Sept. 17 decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

What did the ruling say?

Pennsylvania uses an unusual two-envelope approach to voting by mail: a completed ballot goes into a “secrecy envelope” that has no identifying information about the voter, and then into a larger return envelope signed by the voter.

Interpreting state election laws, the court said officials should throw away mail-in ballots submitted without a secrecy envelope, known as “naked ballots.”

That ruling was a victory for the Trump campaign, which argued in a court filing that naked ballots should be discarded to “ensure the secrecy of absentee and mail-in ballots and to prevent fraud.”

Democrats have said that secrecy envelopes are an unnecessary vestige of a time when absentee ballots were counted by officials at polling places. Mail-in ballots in the state are now quickly scanned electronically, making it all but impossible for officials to stop and see how any one person voted, Democrats in the state have said.

Could the ruling help Trump win Pennsylvania?