Republicans recently scored a significant win ahead of the election as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of conservative efforts to protect election integrity. The state’s highest court ruled to block an initiative allowing mail-in ballots without a handwritten date to be counted in Tuesday’s upcoming 2024 presidential election.
According to Fox News, “The ruling overturns a decision from a Commonwealth Court finding that the state law requiring a handwritten date was unconstitutional.” The conservative outlet continued, “The Pennsylvania GOP appealed that ruling to the state supreme court, and now undated mail-in ballots will not be counted in the upcoming election.”
Secretary Ken Blackwell, chairman of the Center for Election Integrity at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), weighed in on the ruling, explaining to Breitbart News, “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court usually votes 3-2 in favor of liberal Democrat arguments, matching the affiliations of that court’s justices.” He continued, “This time Republicans got a good call from the referee on their opponents’ home field, so this is a clear win for election integrity in a pivotal state.”
Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-Chair Lara Trump also explained that Republicans have had to continually fight for this issue. “I think this is the fifth time we’ve had to fight for this,” she said. “Dates on the mail-in ballots. That is a requirement that is an imperative safeguard for people to feel really good about sending their ballots in. You put a date on it, we have the ability to check it and then when it’s sent in they know the date that it’s supposed to be. The Democrats have fought against this.”
Following the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s monumental decision, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley explained how it is a “big win for election integrity and Pennsylvania votes.” Whatley added, “For the fifth time, we have successfully defended the state’s dated ballot requirement.” He further stated. “We are committed to protecting critical ballot safeguards to ensure every ballot is cast and counted properly and will continue to fight across Pennsylvania to Protect the Vote.”
In his concurring statement on the ruling, Justice Kevin Dougherty wrote, “This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election.” We said those carefully chosen words only weeks ago. Yet they apparently were not heard in the Commonwealth Court, the very court where the bulk of election litigation unfolds. Today’s order, which I join, rights the ship. And it sends a loud message to all courts in this Commonwealth: in declaring we would not countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election, we said what we meant and meant what we said.”
The latest ruling is a major win for Republicans in the critical swing state. Additional reports indicate that Republicans are seeing higher rates of low-propensity GOP voters than Democrats are, suggesting that former President Trump may take the crucial battleground state.
Watch Democratic Sen. John Fetterman explain how he believes former President Trump is the “obvious” choice :
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