Republicans look to rocket Pennsylvania ballot fight to Supreme Court [View all]

Republicans are appealing a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that would allow voters to still vote if their mail ballot is rejected, potentially rocketing a consequential case in the most important swing state to the U.S. Supreme Court on the eve of the election.

The case centers on a yearslong fight over Pennsylvania mail ballots, and what happens if voters do not fill out their ballot correctly.

Cases over whether ballots can still be counted if voters do not return them correctly — such as by not including them in secrecy envelopes, or not dating the mailing envelopes when returning them — have bounced around in state and federal court for years. Broadly, ballots are not counted if voters do not follow all the instructions.

Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that voters whose mail ballots are rejected are entitled to cast what’s known as a “provisional ballot” at their polling place instead. Provisional ballots are federally required “last chance” ballots that are only counted once election officials confirm that a voter is both eligible to vote and has not already had a ballot counted.




https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/10/25/2024-elections-live-coverage-updates-analysis/republican-scotus-appeal-pa-provisional-ballots-00185642