US Supreme Court Won't Block Pennsylvania Provisional Ballots Decision

FILE PHOTO: Republicans and Democrats vote in Pennsylvania primary elections

(Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court denied on Friday a Republican bid to block the counting of provisional ballots cast by voters in the election battleground state of Pennsylvania who make mistakes on their mail-in ballots in a decision that could affect thousands of votes in Tuesday's presidential election. 

The justices denied an emergency request by the Republican National Committee and Republican Party of Pennsylvania to put on hold the Oct. 23 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling in favor of two Butler County voters who sought to have their provisional ballots counted after their mail-in ballots were rejected during that state's primary election for lacking secrecy envelopes.

Pennsylvania is one of a handful of closely contested states expected to decide the outcome of the presidential race between Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Provisional ballots generally protect voters from being excluded from the voting process if their eligibility to vote is uncertain on Election Day. The vote is counted once officials confirm eligibility.

The Supreme Court, as is common in emergency matters, issued the decision without explaining its reasoning.

The state court's ruling could apply to thousands of ballots, possibly more, according to elections experts. The ruling let individuals who learn that their mail-in vote packages were rejected for lacking a mandatory signature, date or secrecy envelope to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day, and for that vote to be counted.

The Republicans told the justices that "tens of thousands of votes" could be at stake and should not be counted "in a state which many anticipate could be decisive in control of the U.S. Senate or even the 2024 presidential election."

If mail-in ballots are received on time but are defective, under the text of state election law those voters should not get a "redo via provisional ballot," the Republicans said in a filing. Pennsylvania's top court has usurped the state legislature's authority and changed rules too close to the election, the Republicans said.

Unlike Butler County, the majority of Pennsylvania's 67 counties already counted provisional ballots from voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected.

Four conservative justices in a statement authored by Justice Samuel Alito said that the request by the Republicans raised a "matter of considerable importance."

However, these justices said, they could not offer relief in part because the case involved just one county dispute and blocking the state court's decision "would not impose any binding obligation on any of the Pennsylvania officials who are responsible for the conduct of this year's election."

Though the case began with two voters challenging a single county's refusal to count their provisional ballots, Republicans intervened to defend the county's decision. Democrats intervened on the side of the voters, contending that if a defective mail-in ballot cannot be counted, that person has not yet voted and a provisional ballot must be counted.

A divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed, saying that provisional ballots serve the "dual purpose" of preventing double voting while protecting voter's right to have one vote counted.

The state constitution's voting protection does not allow for the "disenfranchisement of voters as punishment for failure to conform to the mail-in voting requirements when voters properly availed themselves of the provisional voting mechanism," the state court said.

Republicans had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to apply its 2023 ruling that allows the justices to second-guess state courts in certain cases to ensure they do not "arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections."

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)