JamesNoBrakes

As I understand it and have heard over the last few weeks, it’s up to the states to decide how to conduct the voting.

NE_Pilot

It is up to the State Legislature to decide. That is the issue in PA. The State Legislature put a deadline for all mail-in votes of 8pm Election Day and the PA Supreme Court changed that deadline to 3 days after the election.

WhistlePig

I’m not sure what you mean there, but even assuming that to be true, the Court is under no obligation to consider an appeal from Pennsylvania. Having said that, what did the PA SC change? And it was a unanimous holding, not 5-2. The 2 dissenters agreed with the outcome but would have gotten there by different means. The Constitution does not set out how to conduct elections, it leaves that to the states. There is no Constitutional question here, and even if there was, it would not be justiciable for mootness.

NE_Pilot

US Constitution Article II Section I:
It is specifically up to the State Legislature to decide. In PA the State Legislature said that ballots received after 8pm on Election Day would not be counted (Act 77). The PA Supreme Court decided to change that deadline and allow ballots to be counted that arrive up to 3 days after the election. In effect, it was the State Supreme Court, not the Legislature, that decided how the election would be run, in direct opposition to the US Constitution.

The PA Supreme Court is a partisan court, they are elected to that position.

WhistlePig

My bad, I thought we were talking about the latest PA SC appeal, but my reasoning still stands.
The Court in this example considered the request and declined to take up that appeal with CJ Roberts speaking for the majority. Case closed. The four conservative justices did not say they would find in favor of the appellant by the way, they merely said they would consider the claim. The Court reviews hundreds of submissions a year and considers about 60. Be that as it may, your characterization of the underlying facts is quite shaded. The mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Nov 3 to be counted. No deadline was changed. A ballot mailed on election day by 5pm is deemed to have been cast on election day unless there is strong evidence to the contrary. That’s what the law of the land is in Pennsylvania, and the Court is quite comfortable with staying out of state election matters here.

WhistlePig

Judges, whether elected or appointed, have to determine what Legislators meant all the time. It’s literally their job to do so. Legislators can avoid judicial review by writing better statutes, saying what they mean and meaning what they say, and generally not sucking at their jobs, but they don’t do that for the most part. They write vague statues intentionally or not, they pass laws they do not comport with state constitutions or previous statutes, and they make decisions based personal political consequences rather than what’s good for the people they serve. You want a “successful businessman” to come in and shake up government? Great. Prepare to have a lot statutes thrown out or to survive and yield unintended consequences because they literally don’t know what the hell the are doing in government. That week at Boys State does not count as experience. And there is a whole body of law dedicated to determining what the words of a statute mean. Having said that, a partisan court would consist of judges appointed by one political party. An elected judge’s duty is to the electorate. At least that is the argument. There are pros and cons to appointed vs elected judges and neither system is perfect.

NE_Pilot

You should read the law instead of making stuff up.



https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs...ssInd=0&act=77


The SC motion to expedite was denied, not the case.

WhistlePig

I don’t need the link, I’m looking at the source material. I was trying to keep it simple, but thank you for pointing out good scholar that that is no longer necessary. Did you count how many different categories of absentee and mail-in ballots there are? There are a lot. Did you you see the various dates listed on election day and post election that would allow a ballot to be considered legally cast? There’s more than one. In one category, an absentee ballot is considered legally cast if it is received SEVEN (7) days after the day of election. But you already know all this, you attached a link. Bottom Line: The PA Supreme Court has spoken, and the US Supreme Court affirmed their voice by declining to consider the matter. If that causes you butthurt, buy a donut.

All Bizniz

I guess I should have said I didn't question the legitimacy of his win.

There were question raised about whether he had help yes, but I didn't think the results needed to be reversed.

NE_Pilot

Don’t be mad because you got called out on making stuff up. We were talking specifically about mail-in ballots. That’s what the case is about. It is not about military overseas ballots.

You are confusing the US Supreme Court denial to expedite with declining to consider the matter.