Politics

/

ArcaMax

Supreme Court turns away RNC plea to disqualify Pennsylvania voters who mailed ballots with errors

David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Political News

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday turned down an appeal from the Republican National Committee and refused to disqualify Pennsylvania voters who had sent in a mail ballot with an error on the envelope.

There were no dissents.

The decision is a victory for voting rights advocates who fought the issue in Pennsylvania courts.

They said voters should not lose their right to vote because they made a minor error on the mailing envelope.

The court did not issue an opinion explaining its decision. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., in a separate statement, said the Pennsylvania ruling was "controversial" and questionable, but there were procedural reasons for not ruling on the matter now.

Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch said they agreed.

In response to the decision, Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said "a petty error that is irrelevant to a person's eligibility to vote should never interfere with the counting of ballots, and provisional ballots are a decades-old failsafe, a back up, for voters. We're grateful that the RNC's argument has failed and that voters can count on provisional ballots as a way to make sure that their vote counts."

The Harris-Walz campaign also applauded the outcome. "Today's decision confirms that, for every eligible voter, the right to vote means the right to have your vote counted," a Harris statement read.

A decision in favor of the RNC could have affected several thousand voters across a state that is seen as pivotal in the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court gave legally registered voters a second chance to cast a ballot.

By a 4-3 vote, the state justices ruled that voters who sent in a defective mail ballot could go to their polling place on Election Day and file a provisional ballot that would be counted.

Trump and the Pennsylvania Republicans were highly skeptical of voting by mail four years ago, contending it could lead to fraud.

 

The Supreme Court conservatives have also been skeptical of judges making last-minute changes in voting rules.

On Monday, the RNC filed an emergency appeal in the Supreme Court and argued that the state court had "dramatically changed the rules on mail voting...in the midst of the ongoing general election."

They said Pennsylvania law did not "create a cure process for mail ballot errors."

Their appeal asked the justices to either throw out the state court ruling entirely or instead order the "segregation of affected provisional ballots" so they can be counted separately.

Election officials in Pennsylvania said the RNC claim is wrong. They told the court that many counties have offered provisional ballots to voters whose mail ballot was flawed. They said it would be dramatic change in the law to revoke that standard practice.

In its 4-3 decision, the state court said voters should not lose their right to vote because their mail ballot had an error on the envelope, such as a missing date or signature, or it was not mailed in a cover envelope.

The state judges agreed those defective ballots were "void" and could not be counted, but they said the voters should be permitted to cast a provisional vote in person.

"What honest voting principle is violated by recognizing the validity of one ballot cast by one voter," said state Justice Christine Donohue for the majority.

The ACLU and other voting rights advocates defended that decision in response to the RNC's appeal.

"The provisional voting process ensures that, for each voter, one ballot will be counted —not two ballots, and not zero ballots," they argued.


©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

Related Channels

ACLU

ACLU

By The ACLU
Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

By Amy Goodman
Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

By Armstrong Williams
Austin Bay

Austin Bay

By Austin Bay
Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

By Ben Shapiro
Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey

By Betsy McCaughey
Bill Press

Bill Press

By Bill Press
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

By Cal Thomas
Christine Flowers

Christine Flowers

By Christine Flowers
Clarence Page

Clarence Page

By Clarence Page
Danny Tyree

Danny Tyree

By Danny Tyree
David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi

By David Harsanyi
Debra Saunders

Debra Saunders

By Debra Saunders
Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager
Dick Polman

Dick Polman

By Dick Polman
Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson

By Erick Erickson
Froma Harrop

Froma Harrop

By Froma Harrop
Jacob Sullum

Jacob Sullum

By Jacob Sullum
Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm

By Jamie Stiehm
Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

By Jeff Robbins
Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson

By Jessica Johnson
Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower

By Jim Hightower
Joe Conason

Joe Conason

By Joe Conason
Joe Guzzardi

Joe Guzzardi

By Joe Guzzardi
John Micek

John Micek

By John Micek
John Stossel

John Stossel

By John Stossel
Josh Hammer

Josh Hammer

By Josh Hammer
Judge Andrew Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis

By Laura Hollis
Marc Munroe Dion

Marc Munroe Dion

By Marc Munroe Dion
Michael Barone

Michael Barone

By Michael Barone
Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan

By Michael Reagan
Mona Charen

Mona Charen

By Mona Charen
Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

By Oliver North and David L. Goetsch
R. Emmett Tyrrell

R. Emmett Tyrrell

By R. Emmett Tyrrell
Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden

By Rachel Marsden
Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry

By Rich Lowry
Robert B. Reich

Robert B. Reich

By Robert B. Reich
Ruben Navarrett Jr

Ruben Navarrett Jr

By Ruben Navarrett Jr.
Ruth Marcus

Ruth Marcus

By Ruth Marcus
S.E. Cupp

S.E. Cupp

By S.E. Cupp
Salena Zito

Salena Zito

By Salena Zito
Star Parker

Star Parker

By Star Parker
Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

By Stephen Moore
Susan Estrich

Susan Estrich

By Susan Estrich
Ted Rall

Ted Rall

By Ted Rall
Terence P. Jeffrey

Terence P. Jeffrey

By Terence P. Jeffrey
Tim Graham

Tim Graham

By Tim Graham
Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell

By Tom Purcell
Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy

By Veronique de Rugy
Victor Joecks

Victor Joecks

By Victor Joecks
Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root

By Wayne Allyn Root

Comics

Lee Judge Rick McKee Lisa Benson Steve Kelley John Cole Joel Pett