Pennsylvania Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to determine when a voter ballot should be counted in the Keystone State.
On September 17, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state will add a three-day extension of absentee and mail-in ballots that are post marked by Nov. 3, Election Day.
If a mail-in ballot is received by Nov. 6 and is determined to be valid by a correct postmark date, the ballot will be counted.
This ruling was described by Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro as a victory for voters.
Mailed ballots with an obscured postmarked could also be counted.
State Sentate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman say the state court violated the U.S. Constitution and usurped legislative authority.
On Monday, Scarnati tweeted "Today we have filed a request for stay before #SCOTUS to ensure the election process in PA is fair, transparent and timely."
The filing states "The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania rewrote the state's law governing federal elections and violated the United States Constitution, sowing chaos into the electoral process mere weeks before the already intricate November General Election."
Scarnati and Corman want the original cut-off time to stand - 8pm election night.
Pennsylvania's high court said it acted because of likely postal delays due to COVID-19. The filing claims that the state Supreme Court's special master "found that COVID-19 is not likely to disrupt the November General Election ballot receipt deadline."
You can read the complete court filing here.
In addition to the counting deadline, Governor Wolf has also pushed for earlier ballot counting to be allowed in counties, giving them a 21 day head start to count mail-in ballots instead of the 13 hours they have now.
A record 3 million Pennsylvanians could vote by mail in November.
