Pennsylvania Supreme Court Upholds No-Excuse Mail-In Voting Law

A Supreme Court of Pennsylvania divided along partisan lines upheld the state’s 2019 mail-in voting law in a 5-2 decision on August 2, which means that current mail-in balloting rules will probably remain in place for the upcoming November 8 elections for Congress and for state offices such as governor.

The decision overturned a lower court ruling that had found the mail-in voting law ran afoul of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

All five Democratic justices supported the new ruling; both Republican justices dissented.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, hailed the ruling which he said “definitively asserts that mail-in voting is a legal and constitutional method for Pennsylvania voters.”

“Voting is a fundamental right—a right that we should ensure is accessible for all voters,” Wolf said in a statement.

“Mail-in voting is a safe, secure, and legal option for Pennsylvania voters to exercise that right. I will continue to advocate for voting reforms that remove barriers and increase access to voting.”

Mail-in voting in Pennsylvania has been questioned by former President Donald Trump and Pennsylvania Republicans who say it opens the door to voter fraud and chaos in the vote-counting process. According to official results, Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016 but lost to Joe Biden in 2020. Some Republicans say election irregularities in Pennsylvania cost Trump the state in 2020.

The case goes back to 2019 when the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 77, which, among other things, amended the state’s election code to create universal no-excuse mail-in voting statewide. Before the act, voters had to establish they fit the criteria of an absentee voter before being able to cast a ballot by mail. The legislation easily passed the state House of Representatives 138-61 and the state Senate 35-14.

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Pennsylvania months

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