Yesterday afternoon, Judge William Eldridge of the Frederick County Circuit Court ruled that an absentee ballot returned after Election Day and by Noon the following Friday will not be counted if its return envelope does not have a postmark verifying that the ballot was mailed by Election Day (as required by law), with one proviso.
That proviso is: If an absentee ballot arrives after Election Day and by Noon the following Friday without a postmark, the Intelligent Mail barcode will be checked to confirm that the ballot was mailed on or before Election Day. If this cannot be confirmed, the ballot will not be counted.
Furthermore, if a postmark is illegible, then the Intelligent Mail barcode will be checked. If data is missing from that barcode, the date the oath on Envelope B was signed will be considered. That date must be on or before Election Day for the ballot to be counted.
Should Virginia’s Attorney General decide to appeal this decision to the Virginia Supreme Court, he would have to do so very soon.
Background information here.
