Supreme Court Shuts Down Pennsylvania GOP Attempt To Overturn Election

Topline

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an effort by Republican candidates in Pennsylvania to block the state’s election results Tuesday, marking the end for one of the GOP’s best hopes that the high court will overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Key Facts

Several Pennsylvania Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, alleged Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting rules are unconstitutional and the election results should be tossed out, bringing their litigation to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed the case.

The Supreme Court case had attracted broader support from Republican lawmakers outside of Pennsylvania, with a number of House GOP lawmakers filing an amicus brief in support of the Pennsylvania plaintiffs and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) personally offering to argue the case in court.

The lawmakers’ effort was expected to fail, with election law expert Rick Hasen describing their legal argument as “perhaps the dumbest argument ever made in [an] emergency petition to the Supreme Court.”

Election experts had initially speculated the case was dead in the water after Justice Samuel Alito announced a court filing deadline after Tuesday’s “safe harbor” deadline for election results, as it was more unlikely the court would rule in the GOP’s favor after the deadline passed, but Alito then moved up the deadline to Tuesday morning, ensuring the case would be ruled before the deadline.

The Supreme Court did not offer any explanation of their decision to deny the case, and did not say if any justices dissented.

Key Background

President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have repeatedly pointed to the Supreme Court and its 6-3 conservative majority as their strategy for overturning Biden’s win, brushing off failures in lower federal courts as merely putting them one step closer to having their case heard by the high court. “Whether it’s a justice of the Supreme Court or a number of justices of the Supreme Court, let’s see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right,” Trump said Tuesday at a White House vaccine summit about the election results. The Trump campaign and GOP’s lawsuits have been overwhelmingly unsuccessful even when heard by Republican and Trump-appointed judges, however, and 50 of their post-election lawsuits had already failed in court

Tangent

The Trump campaign has repeatedly said they want their election litigation to be decided by the Supreme Court, and legal advisor Jenna Ellis said Nov. 27 the campaign would appeal a Pennsylvania lawsuit to the high court after the case failed in a federal appeals court. Despite their rhetoric, however, the campaign has so far not actually appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

What To Watch For

Texas has also asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the election, filing a lawsuit Tuesday against Pennsylvania and several other battleground states. Election law experts widely expect that suit to fail, however, and another pending lawsuit before the Supreme Court, which concerns Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting deadline, would not substantively affect the state’s election results. Tuesday’s ruling, then, likely ensures that Biden’s win in Pennsylvania will hold in spite of Trump’s efforts. Though the Trump campaign and the president himself have directly appealed to Pennsylvania state lawmakers to overturn the popular vote and appoint their own electors, the legislature’s GOP leadership has said they cannot do so, and Pennsylvania has already certified its election results.

Further Reading

Texas Asks Supreme Court To Overturn Biden’s Win In Last-Ditch Election Lawsuit (Forbes)

Trump Calls Pennsylvania House Speaker For Help Overturning Election Loss (Forbes)

Pennsylvania Court Temporarily Blocks State From Certifying Votes In Response To GOP Challenge (Forbes)

U.S. Supreme Court moves up deadline in congressman’s bid to upend Pa. election results (Philadelphia Inquirer)


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