The Republican National Committee suffered a significant setback after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state is allowed to count backup votes when mail-in ballots are rejected.
Just four days before the presidential election, the GOP and RNC’s emergency appeal requesting that the higher court temporarily pause a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that ordered the state not to count mail-in ballots returned with a missing or incorrect date was rejected.
With no noted dissents, Conservative Justice Samuel Alito said that although it is an issue of "considerable importance," the Supreme Court had several reasons for why it could not get involved this late in the election process.
Alito, Justices Clarence Thomas, and Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a joint statement saying the case “is a matter of considerable importance.” But, they wrote, “Even if we agreed with the applicants’ federal constitutional argument (a question on which I express no view at this time), we could not prevent the consequences they fear.”
In their court filing, Republicans noted that state law requires ballots that do not meet the standards, is to be rejected and not give voters a chance to resubmit a ballot. This includes ballots that do not have the “secrecy” sleeve, ballots that are not dated or not dated correctly, and those that do not have a signature.
In a final reply brief submitted by the GOP’s attorneys, they argued that the order would no doubt "prevent multiple forms" of "irreparable harm" to the state’s election. The RNC attempted to compromise with the higher court and said that at minimum, ballots that do not meet the standards should be at least set aside and examined and counted separately.