3 Justices Balk At Decision To Snub Pa. Mail-In Ballot Case
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By
Matthew Santoni
Law360 (February 22, 2021, 10:53 AM EST) -- The U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear Pennsylvania Republicans' challenge to an extended deadline for 2020 mail-in ballots because it was moot, but Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch disagreed in a pair of dissents Monday, saying the case raised issues that should be decided before the next election.
The Supreme Court majority said the Republican Party of Pennsylvania's case against the state over the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's three-day extension to the deadline for ballots mailed on Election Day to arrive and be counted was moot, since the 2020 election was over and there were not enough ballots that arrived within that window — which had been set aside and not included in official results, per an earlier order from Justice Alito — to undo President Joe Biden's win in the state. But Justices Thomas and Alito dissented, with Justice Gorsuch joining the latter, saying the case raised issues of whether state courts can override legislators in setting election rules.