On Friday evening, the Supreme Court ruled that it would uphold a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that made it easier for certain voters in the state to cast a ballot. The Republican Party asked the justices to block that decision; Doing so would likely disenfranchise thousands of voters.
But that won’t happen. In the judgment of the court Republican National Committee v. Genser It was unanimous, although Justice Samuel Alito wrote a statement indicating that he and Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch were ruling against the GOP only on narrow procedural grounds.
The main issue in the case was that Pennsylvania law is unusually strict about how mail-in ballots must be returned by voters. They must be filled in two envelopes, and if the inner envelope is missing, the ballot will be invalid. State Supreme Court ruling on the issue sweater Ruling that voters who cast such invalid ballots can still vote if they show up on Election Day and cast a provisional ballot.
The case was closely watched because of the presidential race Expect to be tightAnd perhaps this decision will affect hundreds of thousands of voters. Also, Democrats More likely to vote by mail than Republicans. So, if the presidential election is really close and it all comes down to Pennsylvania — and if the mail-in ballot favors Democrats this year — it’s a win for the GOP. sweater The result could have been reversed and returned Donald Trump to the White House.
A win for the GOP could also swing future elections. The GOP’s legal arguments rest on a radical theory known as the “independent state legislature doctrine,” which the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected, but which all but one of the court’s Republican members have expressed sympathy for in the past.
If you want a full explanation of this doctrine, you can read my preview sweater Here’s the case. But the important thing to know about it is that it takes election power away from state courts and puts it in the hands of state legislatures, in a way that could completely mess up how elections are currently conducted in the United States. A brief filed by an array of admirals, generals and service secretaries warns that the doctrine “undermines the integrity of elections and increases both domestic and foreign threats to national security“
So the court was told to play with very dangerous magic sweater And, to their credit, nine justices rejected the request.
The decision will also provide some comfort to Democrats, who have had good reason to wonder whether the court — which has a 6-3 Republican majority — can be trusted to referee a close election after that. Trump v. United States The immunity decision, in which the justices declared that Trump was allowed to commit many crimes as president. At least sweater A sign that this Court will not take literally any legal theory advanced by the Republican Party.
