WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A US Supreme Court justice
denied a request by Pennsylvania’s Republicans to immediately halt the
counting of ballots arriving after Election Day — referring the challenge to
the full court for a ruling on Saturday.
Samuel Alito ordered Pennsylvania in the meantime to continue keeping the late-arriving ballots separate, affirming a decision already made by the
state’s top elections official.
The last-ditch petition for an emergency injunction — filed as Democrat
Joe Biden solidified his lead and was poised to defeat President Donald Trump — targeted thousands of ballots.
Most are believed to favor Biden, and Republicans say they should be
disqualified under Pennsylvania state law.
As a first step, the party wanted the high court to order the late-
arriving ballots be kept apart from others and prevent them from being
tallied.
The concern is that if they are mixed with other ballots, it would render
any attempt to disqualify them impossible.
“Given the results of the November 3, 2020 general election, the vote in
Pennsylvania may well determine the next president of the United States,” the Republicans said.
“It is unclear whether all 67 county boards of elections are segregating
late-arriving ballots,” the petition added.
Republicans have for months been fighting a state decision to accept mail-
in ballots postmarked by Nov 3 and arriving by Friday. Previously the
deadline for acceptance was Election Day itself.
The state supreme court ruled the decision legal and it was then appealed
in the federal system.
On Oct 19 the US Supreme Court, which had a vacant seat, let the state
court’s decision stand in 4-4 split decision along conservative-liberal
lines.
But the high court indicated it could take up the case after the election,
and now has nine members after the Trump-nominated conservative Amy Coney Barrett joined in late October.
Trump has explicitly said he wanted Barrett on the court for any election-
related case.
Friday’s petition appeared more broadly aimed at delaying the eastern
state’s vote tally from being finalized, which would effectively hand the
election to Biden.
A delay could give the high court time to reopen the broader case of the
legality of the late ballots.
Even if the court does issue a stay on counting, it might not make a
difference. Election analysts say the number of late ballots could be far
fewer than Biden’s lead over Trump in the state. — NNN-AGENCIES
