On Wednesday, a Pennsylvania court ruled that a previous decision reversing the current “universal mail-in ballot law” will stand and take effect in March, according to The Epoch Times.
In January, Commonwealth Court Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt wrote that the law violated the state Constitution. On Wednesday, Leavitt said, “Republicans who challenged the law are likely to prevail when the state Supreme Court reviews the case in March.”
“No-excuse mail-in voting makes the exercise of the franchise more convenient and has been used four times in the history of Pennsylvania,” Leavitt wrote in her opinion in late January.
“Approximately 1.38 million voters have expressed their interest in voting by mail permanently. If presented to the people, a constitutional amendment… is likely to be adopted. But a constitutional amendment must be presented to the people.”
According to The Epoch Times report, the judge also noted that an appeal by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration “assumes the higher court will overrule decisions that were rendered in 1862 and 1924, which would invalidate laws passed to expand absentee voting.”
Leavitt noted that Wolf’s administration lawyers did not assert the 1862 or 1924 rulings were in error.
The case will go to the state Supreme Court on Mar. 8. Wednesday’s ruling by Judge Leavitt will nullify the current mail-in voting law effective Mar. 15.
Republicans have assailed Pennsylvania mail-in ballot laws and vote counting policies, including one that allowed mail-in ballots to be recorded up to three days after the election so as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.
In response to January’s court ruling, President Donald Trump said a “great patriotic spirit is developing at a level that nobody thought possible” in Pennsylvania.
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