The Supreme Court on Monday delivered another blow to Republicans challenging the 2020 election results by denying an appeal from a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that allowed ballots received up to three days after Election Day to be counted to accommodate challenges by the coronavirus pandemic.
In the lawsuit, Republicans had argued that the state court exceeded its authority and should have let stand an Election Day deadline passed by the state legislature. Democrats responded that the state court was within its authority to protect the right to vote amid a pandemic.
The court’s decision is the latest sign that the justices have no interest in cases concerning the 2020 election results.
Last October, the justices denied a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to review the decision on an accelerated basis, the second time the court considered the Pennsylvania issue.
Lawyers for Pennsylvania Democrats told the justices that the state court’s reliance on the state constitution to “make a sensible, modest adjustment of mail-in voting procedures in response to an extraordinary public health crisis and the U.S. Postal Service’s self-declared shortcomings” should not raise constitutional concerns.
They also argued that since the dispute concerned the now-concluded 2020 election it has “no enduring significance” and should be considered moot.
In total, the justices on Monday rejected eight cases. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, all conservative members of the court, dissented from Monday’s order.
