Pennsylvania's Supreme Court scrapped a Republican lawsuit that sought to throw out millions of votes and block election certification

November 28, 2020

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court scrapped a Republican lawsuit that sought to throw out millions of votes and block election certification

Pennsylvania ballots — Mail-in ballots for the 2020 General Election in the United States are seen before being sorted at the Chester County Voter Services office, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, in West Chester, Pa.
AP Photo/Matt Slocum

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit from Republicans seeking to throw out millions of votes in Pennsylvania and halt the election certification.
The lawsuit had taken issue with the state's mail-in voting law, which had been expanded more than a year earlier, and alleged it was unconstitutional.
But the justices wrote in their ruling that Republicans had waited more than a year after the mail-in voting law was passed to challenge it in court — after millions of votes were already cast.
One justice even noted in a concurring opinion that lawmakers "failed to allege that even a single mail-in ballot was fraudulently cast or counted."
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Pennsylvania's Supreme Court on Saturday dismissed a lawsuit from Republicans that sought to block the election's certification and challenge the constitutionality of the state's mail-in voting law.

The lawsuit, led by GOP Rep. Mike Kelly, proposed that the justices disenfranchise some 2.5 million voters who cast their ballots via mail in accordance with the law, or alternatively overturn the election results and allow the Republican-controlled state Legislature to choose the presidential electors.

In a stinging rebuke to the Republicans who filed the lawsuit, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices unanimously dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, and wrote in the order that Republicans had waited more than a year after the mail-in voting law was passed to challenge it in court — after millions of votes were cast.

"The want of due diligence demonstrated in this matter is unmistakable," the justices wrote.

They continued: "At the time this action was filed on November 21, 2020, millions of Pennsylvania voters had already expressed their will in both the June 2020 Primary Election and the November 2020 General Election and the final ballots in the 2020 General Election were being tallied, with the results becoming seemingly apparent. Nevertheless, Petitioners waited to commence this litigation until days before the county boards of election were required to certify the election results to the Secretary of the Commonwealth."

Justice David Wecht even wrote in his concurring opinion that the lawmakers "failed to allege that even a single mail-in ballot was fraudulently cast or counted."

Saturday's ruling was the latest in a series of dozens of court failures for supporters of President Donald Trump across the country, who have sought to overturn the election results or alleged without evidence that President-elect Joe Biden unfairly won.

Pennsylvania, a swing state with 20 electoral votes, has been the subject of a number of major lawsuits filed by Republicans and the Trump campaign.

Recently, a federal appeals court handed down yet another loss to the Trump campaign, specifically noting in the opinion that "calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here."

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