Republicans on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt Pennsylvania’s attempt to count provisional ballots, in a filing that could impact thousands of votes in the critical swing state.
The Republican National Committee intervened in a lawsuit brought against Butler County, Pennsylvania, by voters who did not have provisional ballots counted for lack of a proper envelope.
The RNC, which is the applicant at the high court for a stay of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision, said the state’s highest court ignored state law in its ruling, greenlighting the counting of provisional ballots. The state court ruled a provisional ballot must be counted if the individual had cast his or her mail-in ballot on time.
A provisional ballot is cast if there is a technical issue with a mail-in ballot, such as a lack of signature or date or envelope error.
The filing argues that the decision creates a curing problem for the mail-in ballots.
“This case is of paramount public importance, potentially affecting tens of thousands of votes in a State which many anticipate could be decisive in control of the U.S. Senate or even the 2024 Presidential Election,” the filing read.
If the justices refuse to halt the Pennsylvania court’s decision, then the challengers requested that the high court at least issue an order for the provisional ballots to be sequestered for future judicial review.
The request comes the same day that Virginia asked the justices to allow the state to purge noncitzens from its voter rolls after the Justice Department contested the removal so soon before Election Day.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.