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Posted on 06/10/2022 6:06:01 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
Over the opposition of three conservative justices, the Supreme Court allowed officials in Pennsylvania to resume counting disputed undated mail-in ballots in a state-level judicial election that took place last year in Lehigh County.
The high court’s order came near the end of the business day on June 9 and despite a state law that requires that ballots received on time but missing a handwritten date on the envelope be rejected. The Pennsylvania Republican Party takes the position that undated mail-in ballots should not be counted.
The Supreme Court decision, which will affect other elections in the Keystone State, came too late for former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who on June 3 conceded the U.S. Senate primary contest to celebrity heart surgeon Mehmet Oz who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
McCormick had sued in state court trying to force election officials to count absentee and mail-in ballots that were received on time and stamped by the county boards but on which voters failed to write a date on the exterior mailing envelope. On June 2, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled (pdf) in McCormick’s favor, ordering that contested ballots be included in the count, The Epoch Times reported.
In the election for the judgeship, Republican David Ritter currently holds a 71-vote lead over Democrat Zachary Cohen. Citing state law, Ritter attempted to prevent the processing of additional ballots, but the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), acting on behalf of a group of voters, asked for the count to continue.
On May 27, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ordered (pdf) the state to count the undated mail-in ballots.
Judge Theodore McKee, who was appointed by then-President Bill Clinton, wrote for the panel that Congress passed the Materiality Provision of the federal Civil Rights Act “to ensure qualified voters were not disenfranchised by meaningless requirements that prevented eligible voters from casting their ballots but had nothing to do with determining one’s qualifications to vote.”
“Ignoring ballots because the outer envelope was undated, even though the ballot was indisputably received before the deadline for voting serves no purpose other than disenfranchising otherwise qualified voters. This is exactly the type of disenfranchisement that Congress sought to prevent,” McKee wrote.
On May 31, the Supreme Court got involved in the judicial election when Justice Samuel Alito temporarily stayed (pdf) the 3rd Circuit ruling “pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court.”
But late on June 9, the Supreme Court vacated Justice Samuel Alito’s temporary stay order.
The new order (pdf) in the case known as Ritter v. Migliori, court file 21A772, was unsigned and there is no indication of which justices voted to lift the stay, but three justices voted against removing it. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch joined a dissenting opinion written by Alito.
The decision by the 3rd Circuit is probably wrong, Alito wrote in the dissent, expressing concern about “the effect that the Third Circuit’s interpretation” of federal law “may have in the federal and state elections that will be held in Pennsylvania in November.”
“The Third Circuit’s interpretation broke new ground, and at this juncture, it appears to me that that interpretation is very likely wrong. If left undisturbed, it could well affect the outcome of the fall elections, and it would be far better for us to address that interpretation before, rather than after, it has that effect.”
The circuit court’s interpretation “seems plainly contrary to the statutory language,” Alito wrote.
“When a mail-in ballot is not counted because it was not filled out correctly, the voter is not denied ‘the right to vote.’ Rather, that individual’s vote is not counted because he or she did not follow the rules for casting a ballot.”
It follows, Alito added, that a state’s “refusal to count the votes of these voters does not constitute a denial of ‘the right to vote.’”
If we don’t need rules we don’t need judges. Back to the Wild West.
Wait-—so does this mean an election could be overturned that was from last year? Seriously? Screw this third world crap!
If you are TOO STUPID to follow the rules/requirements to vote, then your vote doesn’t count. DUH !!!
An election is only as good as the ballets.
Does this mean ballets found a month from now need to be counted also.
So what this says is that the “steal the. Ite” capability is still intact.
Have you even read the rulIng? Yes? No? abe?
Or are you just going off what the article has?
The turning point in this case was when it came to light that some PA election officials followed the law meticulously and rejected ballots with undated envelopes while accepting ballots with clownish dates like “July 4, 1776” and “December 7, 1941” written on them.
This is the role of the legislature and governor to write clear law on such issues.
See Post #8. “Clear laws” were apparently lacking in this case.
A rule which should exist nationwide is counting stops at midnight, Election Day. Now more “discovered” ballots turning up weeks after the election. No Dem cities holding out on producing percent totals until they know the number of votes they need to fabricate.
Profound.. I fully agree.
Why have a Department of Justice that doesn't provide justice.? Or a Homeland Security that doesn't do security.! How about an FBI that won't do investigations.!
DC has become nothing more then a filthy toilet that desperately needs FLUSHED.. :(
That was a gut punch for this American to hear.
When ballots don’t work, people use bullets.
Every vote must be counted regardless of provenance. Which is why the Dems will never lose another major election. Our Masters have arrived.
.
They’re intimidated.
Roberts will remind them daily what the angry Mob will do to them.
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...unless you’re supporting the democRATs!
Meh. The whole thing is on the verge of collapse anyway. This stuff is not the least bit surprising.
Many have predicted the collapse of western civilization for a decade or so. The problem is the timing. So many are just shocked at how far they were able to keep kicking the can further down the road. But we’ve come to the point where it no longer gives us a decade or even a year. Rather, each kick gives us maybe a few months - or even only weeks.
But make no mistake. It’s not that the left is “evil”, so much as they see the same day of reckoning conservatives do, and their solution is a “great reset”. As far as they may be concerned, we either control it with a “great reset”, or the whole thing collapses into utter anarchy and mayhem.
No, I don’t agree with them, but I think everyone sees the writing on the wall, and is just looking for the solution that matches their own world view.
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