Pennsylvania's mass mail-in voting system has been ruled unconstitutional, setting up a battle at the state Supreme Court.
The Lawyers Democracy Fund is proud to have supported Bradford County Board of Elections Member Doug McLinko's litigation challenging Pennsylvania's no-excuse mail-in ballot law, Act 77, which the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court struck down this morning. https://t.co/NXnbObPJZo
— Lawyers Democracy (@lawyersdf) January 28, 2022
The decision, by a five-judge Commonwealth Court panel of three Republicans and two Democrats, could be put on hold immediately by an appeal from Gov. Tom Wolf's administration to the state Supreme Court.
— Marc Levy (@timelywriter) January 28, 2022
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is vowing to appeal.
"The Administration will immediately appeal this decision to the state Supreme Court and today’s lower court ruling will have no immediate effect on mail-in voting pending a final decision on the appeal," Wolf released in a statement shortly after the ruling.
President Donald Trump, who has been a consistent critic of the state's mail-in system, is also weighing in.
"Big news out of Pennsylvania, great patriotic spirit is developing at a level that nobody thought possible. Make America Great Again!" Trump released in a statement.
The ruling has prompted questions about the upcoming 2022 midterm elections and the validity of votes previously cast under the unconstitutional system.
"The decision throws Pennsylvania’s voting laws into doubt as the presidential battleground state’s voters prepare to elect a new governor and a new U.S. senator in 2022," the Associated Press reports. "Just over 2.5 million people voted under the law’s expansion of mail-in voting in 2020's presidential election, most of them Democrats, out of 6.9 million total cast."
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