The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn the results of the presidential election in the state. The order leaves intact Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s certification of President-elect Joe Biden in the state and marks the latest blow to GOP efforts to overturn the election results.
In a one-line order, the court said that “the application for injunctive relief presented to Justice [Samuel] Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied.” The order was issued without noted dissents or comments from any of the nine justices. Of the justices, there are six conservatives, including three who are Trump’s nominees – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The case had marked Barrett’s first vote on an election-related dispute, according to CNN.
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Brought forth by Republican Rep. Mike Kelly and several others, the original complaint was filed in Pennsylvania state court late last month and sought to throw out some 2.5 million mail-in ballots. The plaintiffs argued that a 2019 expanded mail-in ballot policy was unconstitutional and that all ballots cast by mail in the general election in Pennsylvania should be rejected, according to The Hill. In Pennsylvania, Biden won three of every four mail-in ballots cast. On Nov. 28, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed the case, citing the GOP’s delay in bringing forth the challenge. At the time, Justice David Wecht wrote, “Unsatisfied with the results of that wager, they would now flip over the table, scattering to the shadows the votes of millions of Pennsylvanians. It is not our role to lend legitimacy to such transparent and untimely efforts to subvert the will of Pennsylvania voters.”
Following that dismissal, the plaintiffs brought forth a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the top state court violated their due process rights and other constitutional guarantees. The emergency application was addressed to Justice Samuel Alito, who oversees emergency matters for the court coming from Pennsylvania. Rather than acting on the case alone, Alito referred the matter to the full court.
The Tuesday ruling, according to numerous outlets, dealt a near-fatal blow to the GOP’s efforts to overturn the results of the election, as it closed off one of Trump’s final paths to victory. The ruling also came just hours ahead of the midnight “safe harbor” deadline, after which, according to federal law, certifications for states that have already certified their election results “shall be conclusive, and shall govern in the counting of the electoral votes as provided in the Constitution.”
