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Pennsylvania Supreme Court removes Green Party candidate from ballot, handing Democrats a win
The Hill ^ | Sep 17 | BY TAL AXELROD

Posted on 09/17/2020 10:34:36 AM PDT by RandFan

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the Green Party cannot appear on the state’s ballots this cycle, handing Democrats a win as they try to consolidate support in the key swing state.

The court ruled in a 5-2 decision that the Green Party did not follow proper procedure for getting on the ballot, overturning a Republican judge’s decision in a lower court ruling.

The Green Party earlier this year swapped out Elizabeth Faye Scroggin for Howie Hawkins as its presidential candidate. But the high court ruled that it failed to properly get Scroggin on the ballot, so “subsequent efforts to substitute Hawkins were a nullity.” It ruled a similar substitution effort to get Angela Walker on the ballot as the party’s vice presidential nominee was invalid.

“In sum, the Commonwealth Court erred in dismissing Objectors’ petition to set aside Scroggin’s nomination, and Hawkins’ substitution, as the Green Party’s candidate for President of the United States,” the court ruled, citing irregularities in the way the Green Party was supposed to file affidavits for the presidential candidate.

“That defect was fatal to Scroggin’s nomination and, therefore, to Hawkins’ substitution. Accordingly, the Secretary of the Commonwealth is directed to remove Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker from the general election ballot as the Green Party’s nominees for President and Vice President.”

The court’s two Republican justices agreed the petitions for Hawkins and Walker were not filed properly but that the Green Party could try to fix the errors retroactively.

The ruling marks a victory for former Vice President Joe Biden and Democrats who feared that third-party contenders could win over some liberal voters in tight battles up and down the ballot that are anticipated to be decided by thin margins.

The Keystone State is anticipated to be particularly competitive in the White House race between Biden and President Trump. Trump won the state in 2016 by just over 44,000 votes, when Green Party candidate Jill Stein took nearly 50,000 votes.

Biden’s campaign has focused heavily on winning Pennsylvania, touting the former vice president’s Scranton roots. The RealClearPolitics polling average shows him with a 4.3 percent lead over Trump in the state.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: 2020election; dems; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; election2020; electionrigging; green; greenparty; mediawingofthednc; paping; partisanmediashills; pennsylvania; presstitutes; smearmachine
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1 posted on 09/17/2020 10:34:36 AM PDT by RandFan
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To: RandFan

Keep this ruling in mind in case there’s some last-minute attempt to swap Biden out for someone conscious.


2 posted on 09/17/2020 10:36:49 AM PDT by alancarp (George Orwell was an optimist.)
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To: RandFan

Every angle being played by the DEMs. How anyone at this point can’t believe the DEMs can steal the election for Biden is beyond me. Blind faith at believing what is right will prevail is what got us in this mess in the first place.


3 posted on 09/17/2020 10:37:41 AM PDT by CatOwner
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To: RandFan

Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll also remove the Losertarian candidate too. Any minute now. Hold on...


4 posted on 09/17/2020 10:39:20 AM PDT by montag813 (Nonsenze)
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To: alancarp

The Greens got kicked off the ballot for not following the rules.

Next, watch the Democrats count votes from voters that did not follow the rules.


5 posted on 09/17/2020 10:41:18 AM PDT by MattMusson (Sometimes the wind blows too much)
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To: RandFan

PA Supreme Court is 100% owned by the Democrats lock, stock and barrel.

Nice job of sleeping through that election by my fellow Pennsylvanians.


6 posted on 09/17/2020 10:41:23 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
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To: RandFan

The black robes learn how to be gods during their three years of law school.


7 posted on 09/17/2020 10:41:24 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
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To: RandFan

All while letting the Libertarian candidate on the ballot.


8 posted on 09/17/2020 10:42:10 AM PDT by Meatspace
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To: RandFan

We must uphold the exact letter of the law when it suits us.

But it’s wrong to deny people their right to vote.

So - why can’t the original Green Party candidates appear on the ballot as filed then? Why does the court strike them from the ballot altogether but not allow the edit?


9 posted on 09/17/2020 10:43:00 AM PDT by Skywise
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To: RandFan

They also extended mail in voting until Friday after the Election Day to get ballots in that are post marked. This court has screwed Pennsylvania over for years starting with redistricting.


10 posted on 09/17/2020 10:48:05 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016)
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To: RandFan

.....The court ruled in a 5-2 decision that the Green Party did not follow proper procedure for getting on the ballot, overturning a Republican judge’s decision in a lower court ruling.....

= = =

Well, of course they didn’t follow proper procedure.

Geez.

These ppl are so predictable.


11 posted on 09/17/2020 10:50:17 AM PDT by Jane Long (Praise God, from whom ALL blessings flow.)
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To: RandFan

what is the history of federal courts getting involved in these types of cases?


12 posted on 09/17/2020 10:50:31 AM PDT by ChronicMA
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To: RandFan
Election rigging.

The 2020 election will only have credibility if Trump wins.

Otherwise, armed Resistance.

13 posted on 09/17/2020 10:52:38 AM PDT by kiryandil (Chris Wallace: Because someone has to drive the Clown Car)
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To: RandFan

Trump won with 48.16% of the vote to Hillary’s 47.46% of the vote - so less than 50% with the rest of the vote split between third parties, with the Green Party more than making up the difference.

This is a victory for the Democrats, though not necessarily insurmountable, as Hillary would had to have gotten nearly 100% of the Green Party votes to have won the state - that would not have occurred...as odd as this may seem, a handful of them would have went to Trump, with others split between the other third party candidates, and still others would not have voted for President at all - so she probably would have gotten about 80% of those votes, but that would not have quite been enough. However, that would have made the race close enough for litigation to try to overturn the results...we don’t want results to be that close.


14 posted on 09/17/2020 10:54:24 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: RandFan; All
"The court ruled in a 5-2 decision that the Green Party did not follow proper procedure for getting on the ballot [emphasis added], overturning a Republican judge’s decision in a lower court ruling."
FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument

The only limit that the 12th Amendment puts on presidential electors when choosing president and vice-president is that one of the people that they vote for must not be a resident (my word) of the state that they represent.

Excerpted from the 12th Amendment: "The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President [emphasis added], and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; […]"

So Pennsylvania Supreme Court is unconstitutionally limiting presidential elector choices imo.

Send "Orange Man Bad" federal and state government desperate Democrats home in November!

Supporting PDJT with a new patriot Congress and state government leaders that will promise to fully support his already excellent work for MAGA and stopping SARS-CoV-2 will effectively give fast-working Trump a "third term" in office imo.

I don’t see any problem with voting Republican ticket for 2020 elections.

Insights welcome.

15 posted on 09/17/2020 10:55:16 AM PDT by Amendment10
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To: Republican Wildcat

All the people that thought their Green candidate would win the election last time...will now vote for Biden.

Ok, I’m thinking that is 2-3 votes, with 2 or 3 of them being insane.


16 posted on 09/17/2020 10:55:58 AM PDT by Professional
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Soros doesn’t sleep through them...he pays close attention to the under the radar “dog catcher” races - he knows winning those “little races” can have major national impact in the right situations, and the Left can prevail by slowly chipping away under the surface and erode our institutions.


17 posted on 09/17/2020 10:56:03 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: RandFan

but to quote the democrats, every vote should count.

the irony, she hurts.


18 posted on 09/17/2020 11:00:20 AM PDT by teeman8r (Armageddon won't be pretty, but it's not like it's the end of the world or something)
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To: RandFan

On to Federal Court.


19 posted on 09/17/2020 11:07:21 AM PDT by FlipWilson
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To: RandFan

I am no fan of the “green” party. But if this court can toss them off the ballot, this court can (and likely will) do the same to the R’s (or D’s) next time.

The D’s have nominated an obviously incapable, semi-senile old guy WITH a patently ineligible Veep candidate. How about this court tossing that ticket off the ballot too?

Removing an ineligible candidate would make a whole lot more sense than removing a presumably- eligible candidate whose party just didn’t comply with all the dots and whistles of the state’s complex election rules.


20 posted on 09/17/2020 11:08:42 AM PDT by faithhopecharity (Politicians are not born, they are excreted. Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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