GOP Loses SCOTUS Battle Over PA Provisional Ballots

CBS News reports:

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to freeze a decision from Pennsylvania’s highest court that required election officials to count provisional ballots cast by people whose mail ballots are invalid because they lacked mandatory secrecy envelopes.

The order from the justices means that election officials in the key battleground state must tally provisional ballots submitted on Election Day by voters who returned defective mail ballots, either because they didn’t include secrecy envelopes or failed to sign or date the outer envelope.

Republicans, who sought relief from the Supreme Court, had warned that if the Pennsylvania court’s ruling was left in place, “tens of thousands” of provisional votes may be counted in a state that could decide control of the Senate and White House.

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NEW: The Supreme Court will NOT prevent Pennsylvanians from casting a provisional ballots at the polls if they previously mailed back a defective ballot that got tossed out. A significant voting rights victory.

No dissents, but a statement from Alito. https://t.co/I7Ko5hLAmj pic.twitter.com/mfqxLco3HR

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) November 1, 2024