What You Need to Know About Two Critical ELECTION Cases Before the Supreme Court
Nearly every presidential election season, critical voting cases make their way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. This year is no different.
Pennsylvania: Ballot Curing
At issue in this case is whether some Pennsylvania counties can allow voters to cast provisional ballots if their mail ballot was rejected for “disqualifying errors.” These errors could include missing a signature or forgetting to date the ballot.
Earlier this election season, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) visited election offices across Pennsylvania. This investigation revealed that voters’ rights to cure their ballots depend solely on the county they live in.
For example, in some rural Pennsylvania counties, such as Westmoreland and Lancaster County, voters are not notified of mistakes and have no opportunity to cure their ballots. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia County, voters are notified of errors on their ballots by phone and on a website. Voters are given the opportunity to correct disqualifying errors in the elections office and are allowed to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day.
PILF used its original research from these visits to file a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that this differential treatment violated the Pennsylvania Constitution’s Free and Equal Protection Clause.
Despite mail ballots being a relatively small share of the electorate, this curing disparity could make a large difference, given the close state of the race.
Virginia: Alien Voter Registration Removals
The central issue in this case is whether voter registrations by self-identified aliens can occur at any time. Virginia came under fire for removing more than1,600 voter registrations of individuals who had identified themselves as lacking U.S. citizenship. These removals controversy comes from the fact that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) prohibits “systematic removals” 90 days before an election.
Last week, a lower court ordered Virginia to reinstate these voter registrations.
Virginia appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. This week, the Supreme Court stayed, in other words, halted, the lower court’s decision. This means for the 2024 election, these voter registrations of potential aliens will not be put back on the voter roll. PILF President J. Christian Adams, discussed the ruling in more detail and the national impact this case could have with News Nation.
For any U.S. citizens caught up in the removal process, Virginia has same-day voter registration. These U.S. citizens can show up at the polls on Election Day get registered and vote.