Pennsylvania Supreme Court Gives Democrats Win In Mail-in Vote Case
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) - Pennsylvania's highest court on Thursday handed victories to the Democratic Party in an election-related lawsuit that sought favorable fixes to glitches and gray areas in the battleground state's fledgling mail-in voting law. The state Supreme Court, which has a 5-2 Democratic majority, granted the Democratic Party's request to order an extension of Pennsylvania's Election Day-deadline to count mailed-in ballots for three days after Election Day.
It also authorized the use of satellite election offices and drop boxes - which Philadelphia and its heavily populated suburbs are planning to use help relieve the pressure from an avalanche of mailed-in ballots expected in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The court's ruling comes as Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled Legislature are at a stalemate over some of the issues, less than seven weeks before the election.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro tweeted his support of the ruling, "With 47 days left to vote, today's ruling by the PA Supreme Court gives the people of Pennsylvania exactly what they have been searching for -- confidence in our voting process. Confidence that if they place their ballot in a drop box, it will be counted."
And confidence that they will be able to go to the polls greeted by neighbors, and not strangers sent in to intimidate them.
— AG Josh Shapiro (@PAAttorneyGen) September 17, 2020
Next week, I'll be in Court to ensure the Postal Service holds up their end of the bargain and gets these votes delivered.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press.