U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman and other Democrats filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging Pennsylvania's plan not to count undated or wrongly dated ballots that have been mailed in.

Fetterman, who is the state’s lieutenant governor, is in a tight race with Republican rival Dr. Mehmet Oz to replace retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, also a Republican.

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Last week, the commonwealth’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee and other groups, who argued that state law requires voters to correctly write the date on a return envelope when mailing in ballots.

The court ordered county elections officials not to count absentee and mail-in ballots received for Tuesday’s general election that are contained in undated or incorrectly dated outer envelopes.

Monday’s lawsuit claims the ruling is an “unnecessary impediment” that violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the First and 14th Amendments.

The date on a mail ballot envelope "has no bearing on a voter’s qualifications and serves no purpose other than to erect barriers to qualified voters exercising their fundamental constitutional right to vote," the plaintiffs wrote in the 17-page filing.

The suit, filed in Pittsburgh at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, states the date instruction “imposes unnecessary hurdles that eligible Pennsylvanians must clear to exercise their most fundamental right."

The suit names Pennsylvania’s top election official, Leigh M. Chapman, who is acting secretary of the commonwealth, as well as the state’s 67 county election boards as defendants.

Wil White, Butler County solicitor, reacted to Fetterman’s suit Tuesday as he traveled between polling places during what he called a busy election.

“It’s much ado about nothing, given two other entities have filed that lawsuit,” White said.

The NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union filed federal suits last week asserting that mail-in and absentee ballots that are wrongly dated or undated should be counted.

“I’m not sure why Mr. Fetterman felt the need to do the same lawsuit,” White said.

He said that as of Monday, Butler County had received 17,474 absentee and mail-in ballots. Of those, 95 were “naked,” or missing the security envelope. Four had no signature.

The ballots that were incorrectly dated numbered 65 and were segregated.

Voters of the segregated ballots were notified by the county elections bureau that their ballot contained a defect.

White said some people who were notified came to the election office to look at the defect, while others asked for a photocopy of the defect.

“Most people, upon seeing that, they’re like ‘Ugh, I can’t believe I did that,’ but they were very understanding,” White said.

He said the segregated ballots are not opened, counted or scanned in.

Regarding Butler County’s stance on the issue, White said Act 77 is the rule that is followed.

Act 77, which was passed in 2019, reformed elections to permit no-excuse mail-in voting for the first time in Pennsylvania.

“Butler County believes Act 77 requires a signature and date to be on the ballot for the ballot to be accepted,” White said.

Regarding the claim that rejecting mail-in and absentee ballots with incorrect or missing dates disenfranchises voters, White said voters can go to the polls or come to the elections office to vote to ensure their vote is cast correctly.

“If someone wants to avail themselves of the right to vote by mail, that’s a privilege to do so,” White said, “but there are certain steps and requirements to take advantage of that privilege.”

He said the county will continue to follow Act 77, as it has throughout the mail-in voting controversy of the past few years.

“Until a court of binding jurisdiction tells us otherwise, we will continue to do so,” White said.