Rich Welsh| On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued a stay order that blocks a federal appeals court decision that called for the counting of undated ballots in Pennsylvania elections.
The Pennsylvania constitution is taken very seriously in the Keystone State, along with the US Constitution, and courts do not have the right to change election law. Pennsylvania law stipulates that you must date a mail-in ballot along with your signature for the vote to be considered lawful.
A state lawsuit that challenged a 2021 local election in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, concerned voters who sent in mail-in ballots without adding the date and that violates Pennsylvania law, which requires both.
The reason this is so important is that the Democrats in Pennsylvania want to be able to vote in the midterm elections by faking mail-in ballots without hand-written dates on them. It’s important because cheaters have already tried to use stamped dates instead of hand-written, which usually indicates voter fraud.
The case wound up in federal court over a provision of federal voting-rights law, 52 U.S.C. § 10101, that limits what kind of information a state can require on a state ballot. A federal district judge ruled in favor of the state law, which was the correct ruling if you believe in the Constitution.
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed that decision, because obviously. A 3-judge panel consisting of two Democrat-appointed judges and a Republican-appointed judge held that the relevant provision of state law violated federal law. The Philadelphia appeals court accordingly ordered that the undated ballots were to be counted. Of course they would, because Democrats are rotten to the core, even their judges.
While a local election in Pennsylvania didn’t make the national news scene, this ruling has major implications for other races. I’m talking about the races for Pennsylvania governor and for a US Senate seat. Right now, the top two candidates for the Republican nomination in the US Senate race, Mehmet Oz and David McCormick, are just a few hundred votes’ difference. Pennsylvania is also a key battleground state in presidential elections.
On Tuesday, Alito issued a stay order blocking the Third Circuit’s decision. The case will now more than likely make its way up to the full Supreme Court for arguments on whether the stay should continue. Hopefully, there will be enough justices on the High Court who still believe in the US Constitution.
If a majority on the Court agrees with the stay, you can expect the lawsuit’s applicant to file a writ of certiorari petition with the Court to be able to bring the case up for an argument later this year.
Alito’s stay is temporary, and it’s not clear when the full Supreme Court will finally resolve the matter. The Court could issue a per curiam opinion, acting collectively, on the application for a stay or when a cert petition is filed.
Federal judges are reluctant to alter election rules when an election is near.That reasoning would either cause the Court to resolve the case quickly or hold it off until after the 2022 election but soon enough after to have the matter settled before the 2024 election.
Let’s just say we should thank God that the SCOTUS has a majority of justices who still believe in the Constitution. I have no illusions that it that were flipped, the decision for this case would be based on what helps the Democratic Party the most.
