The Pennsylvania Supreme Court gave Democrats a major victory Thursday, allowing the state’s mail-in ballot deadline to be extended to three days after Election Day.
“Pennsylvania was already going to be in the spotlight this election cycle, but moving the deadline for mail-in ballots back from Nov. 3 to Nov. 6 virtually ensures that the eyes of the entire nation will be on the Keystone State after Election Day,” said Mark Nevins, a Democratic consultant who also worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign. “It’s not impossible that the Pennsylvania outcome could decide who the next president is, and if the counting process is prolonged, get ready for our state to be overrun with lawyers, surrogates, and rabid partisans on both sides.”
“[T]he effects of the pandemic threatened the disenfranchisement of thousands of Pennsylvanians during the 2020 Primary, when several of the Commonwealth’s county election boards struggled to process the flow of mail-in ballot applications for voters who sought to avoid exposure to the virus,” wrote Democratic Judge Max Baer for the majority.
Close to 2 million ballots have already been requested in the state ahead of the election.
In a related ruling, the court allowed ballots to be returned to drop boxes around the state.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, also welcomed the news.
“I think it really makes the access to voting better,” Wolf said. “And so I welcome the decision.”
The court also ruled to remove the Green Party’s presidential ticket from the ballot, which could result in some of those voters moving to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
In 2016, Green Party candidate Jill Stein received close to 50,000 votes in Pennsylvania. President Trump narrowly won the state by about 44,000 votes.
