The Independent View: Supreme Court Allows PA Voters to Cast Provisional Ballots on Election Day

The Supreme Court has Refused a Republican Request to Narrow the Options for Pennsylvania Voters, who botch their Mail Ballots and still Seek to Vote.

No Member of the Court publicly Dissented from the High Court’s Decision issued Friday Evening, but Three GOP-appointed Justices: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch, signed onto a Brief Statement that Adopted a Highly Technical Rationale for the Court’s Action and Appeared to leave the Door Open to Future Litigation over the Issue.

In Dispute was a 4-3 Decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Issued last week, saying Voters who make Errors on their Mail Ballots, such as Not placing them in Inner “secrecy envelopes,” can then turn up at a Polling Place on Election Day, and be Issued Provisional Ballots. The Provisional Ballot is Not Counted until Election Officials Confirm that the Voter hadn’t already Validly Cast a Ballot.

Far more Democrats Vote via the Mail than Republicans in Pennsylvania, so allowing Mail Voters to Cast Provisional Ballots after making Errors is likely to benefit Democrats.

The Request to the Supreme Court by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Pennsylvania Republican Party, also asked the Justices to Order such Ballots “Sequestered” or Set Aside, so Court Action can be Pursued after the Election to Assess their Legal Validity.

But the Three Justices who Explained their Votes Friday, indicated the Case was Not a plausible Vehicle to Force All Election Officials in the Keystone State to take that step.

“Because the only state election officials who are parties in this case are the members of the board of elections in one small county, we cannot order other election boards to sequester affected ballots,” Alito wrote, joined by Thomas and Gorsuch.

The Case arose from Instances of 2024 Primary Voters who saw their Ballots Invalidated. It’s Unclear how many Voters in the General Election will be Affected by the Decision, especially given the Conservative Trio’s attempt to Narrow its Scope. Additional Litigation could follow, even after next week’sVvote.

Granting the Stay the Republicans sought “would not impose any binding obligation on any of the Pennsylvania officials who are responsible for the conduct of this year’s election,” Alito wrote.

Some, but Not all, Counties in Pennsylvania, allow Voters to “Cure” Mail Ballots, which means to Fix Defects that Election Officials identify so their Ballot can be Counted. Many Voters who are Notified they made Errors preparing their Mail Ballots, can Fix the Problem by getting New Ones at their Local Elections Office.

Tens of thousands of Pennsylvania voters made errors returning their ballots in 2020, often by failing to sign, date or place them in inner “secrecy envelopes” intended to keep their Ballots Anonymous.

Most of the Justices followed the Supreme Court’s usual Practice for Matters on its Emergency Docket and did Not explain their Reasons for Denying the Relief the Republicans sought.