The Board of Elections in one Pennsylvania county has requested that the newly confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett recuse herself from a lawsuit regarding mail-in ballots in the state.
Luzerne County Board of Elections filed their recusal motion on Tuesday as the state’s GOP tries again to get the Supreme Court to roll back the extension after the high court ruled 4-4 last week that county election officials can receive and count mailed-in ballots that arrive up until Nov. 6, even if they don’t have a clear postmark, as long as there is no evidence it was mailed after the polls closed.
“The nomination and confirmation of a Supreme Court justice this close to a presidential election is unprecedented,” they wrote, according to the Hill. “As concerning as that is, what is even more troubling is the language President Trump has used in consideration of this nomination, linking it directly to the electoral season at hand, with implications for his own re-election.”
Election Day is in one week, on Nov. 3.
After the Supreme Court deadlock last week, leaving the lower court’s ruling in place, and following Barrett’s confirmation on Monday, the Republicans hope to get the case back in front of the Supreme Court. Should Barrett, who was sworn in on Tuesday, tip the scale in their favor, the decision would likely harm Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden more than Trump, as Democrats are expected to vote via mail more so than Republicans.
Pennsylvania and the state’s 20 electoral college votes are seen as critical for both Trump’s and Biden’s bids for the White House.
This is not the only legal challenge regarding mail-in ballots that has reached the Supreme Court. On Monday, the high court rejected an attempt by Democrats in Wisconsin to extend the mail-in voting deadline by six days in a 5-3 ruling.
