Pennsylvania officials on Tuesday slammed a Republican appeal to the Supreme Court contesting the state’s election results.
In a brief filed with the court, attorneys for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration accused Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of attempting a “dramatic, disruptive” invocation of judicial power in his request for the court to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the state.
“In seeking such unprecedented relief, Petitioners might be expected to present claims of the utmost constitutional gravity,” Andrew Wiygul, an attorney for Pennsylvania, wrote. “Instead, the pair of claims they advance are fundamentally frivolous.”
Kelly, last week, petitioned the court to overturn the state’s 2019 mail-in ballot law, alleging that it is unconstitutional. Along with other Republicans in the state, he argued that the state statute Act 77 violates both the state and federal Constitution because it allows for “no-excuse mail-in” votes on a large scale. Act 77 let people vote by mail up to 50 days before the election without a stated reason, previously required to receive an absentee ballot.
More than one-third of Pennsylvania residents voted by mail in the 2020 election.
Kelly also argued that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s dismissal of his case violated the First and 14th Amendments.
In responding to both charges, Pennsylvania said that the court should put a “swift and decisive end” to Kelly’s lawsuit, adding that Republicans “come to this Court with unclean hands and ask it to disenfranchise an entire state.”
“They make that request without any acknowledgment of the staggering upheaval, turmoil, and acrimony it would unleash,” Wiygul wrote.
Pennsylvania’s response comes after Justice Samuel Alito on Sunday moved up the deadline for its response to the so-called safe harbor day, the last day by which the state must certify its election results. The date was previously set for Wednesday, one day after the state could possibly overturn its election results to give Republicans a long-shot chance at winning without the mail-in ballots.
Alito’s move gave Republicans hope that the court would take up the case. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday volunteered to make oral arguments in front of the court if it did.
“The bitter division and acrimony we see across the Nation needs resolution,” Cruz told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “I believe the Supreme Court has a responsibility to the American people to ensure, within its powers, that we are following the law and following the Constitution.”
At the same time, however, skeptics said that Alito’s decision most likely was only an indication that the court wants to ensure the fairest proceedings possible.
“He has to be aware of the 8th being this final ‘safe harbor day’ and perhaps just wanted to bend over backward to be fair and consider the arguments,” Democratic attorney Cliff Levine told CBS on Monday.
The court is expected to decide whether or not to grant Kelly injunctive relief on Tuesday.
