Supreme Court allows Pennsylvania voters who sent defective mail-in ballots to cast provisional ones in person
The Supreme Court handed a loss to Republicans by allowing Pennsylvania voters who had sent mail-in ballots that were flagged as being potentially defective to submit a separate provisional in-person ballot.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday handed a loss to Republicans by allowing Pennsylvania voters who sent mail-in ballots that were flagged as being potentially defective to submit a separate provisional in-person ballot.
The justices rejected, with no noted dissents, a Republican request to put on hold a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling from last week.
The Supreme Court action marks "an important reaffirmation of the right to vote in Pennsylvania," said Ben Geffen, a lawyer who represented voters in the case.
Justice Samuel Alito, one of the court's conservatives, wrote a brief statement saying that, although it is an issue of "considerable importance," there were several reasons for the court not to get involved at this stage. His statement was joined by two other conservatives, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Neil Gorsuch.
The case, as Alito noted, arose from a dispute over two ballots submitted during the "long-completed" Democratic primary in Butler County this year. Although it is unclear exactly how many ballots the legal theory would affect if it applied to the general election, it could be several thousand and have major legal ramifications if any statewide contests are close in the key swing state.
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