PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania's Republican Party has filed a new request that the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the three-day mail ballot deadline extension that the state Supreme Court had ordered for the general election.
The Pennsylvania court had ordered ballots to be counted if they are received by mail up to 5 p.m. on Nov. 6, and are either postmarked by Nov. 3 or have no or illegible postmarks. State law normally requires ballots to be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
In a filing Friday night with the nation's high court, the state Republican Party made essentially the same argument it had unsuccessfully presented earlier to the same court: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's ruling allows ballots to be cast and counted after Election Day, violating the federal law setting one single Election Day across the country, and is unconstitutional because it takes away the state legislature's power to decide how elections are run.
In a 4-4 tie Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected that previous emergency request to step in and block the deadline extension. Friday night's filing differs in that it is asking the court to take up the case itself and decide whether the state court had ruled properly. And Monday's all-but-certain confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court could tip the balance in deciding the new request.
The GOP Friday night also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to fast-track the case, given the imminence of Election Day.
Also late Friday, the party asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to order any ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day be kept separated from the other ballots. That would allow them to be affected by a court ruling after Election Day; otherwise, once ballots are counted and mixed together, there is no way to remove them from the results.
It's unclear exactly when Friday's requests were filed, and they do not yet show up on the state or federal high courts' dockets. Lawyers were electronically served the U.S. Supreme Court documents by email shortly after 9 p.m. A little over an hour later, the state court system sent notification emails about the Pennsylvania filing. That filing included a copy of the U.S. Supreme Court request that the party said it had filed that day.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania GOP could not be reached for comment Saturday morning.
