PENNSYLVANIA – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans that could have prevented thousands of provisional ballots from being counted in the critical swing state. The decision arrives as both presidential campaigns fight to capture Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes in the final days before the election.
The ruling leaves in place a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision mandating that election officials count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were disqualified. This outcome is a significant win for voting-rights advocates who argued that counties—especially Republican-controlled ones—should permit voters to cast provisional ballots on Election Day if their mail-in ballots faced rejection due to common errors like missing signatures or dates.
State records indicate that, as of Thursday, about 9,000 ballots out of over 1.6 million received statewide have been flagged for missing a secrecy envelope, signature, or date. Pennsylvania remains a key battleground, and it is expected to play a decisive role in the election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. The state has swung narrowly in recent elections, with Trump winning by a small margin in 2016 and Democrat Joe Biden claiming victory in 2020.
Friday also marked the final day for Pennsylvania voters to apply for a mail-in ballot, setting off a rush in certain counties to ensure voters could vote. In Bucks County, a Philadelphia suburb, lines at the county election office stretched down the sidewalk as voters waited nearly two hours to apply for and receive their ballots by the afternoon.
Meanwhile, a judge in Erie County, located in the state’s northwest, ruled in favor of the Democratic Party’s lawsuit, allowing about 15,000 voters who did not receive a mail-in ballot to obtain a replacement at the county election office through Monday. Although the mail-in ballot application deadline has officially passed, the judge’s decision permits Erie County’s office to remain open daily through Monday to accommodate voters who had issues with their ballots.
As Pennsylvania voters mobilize across the state, the legal and logistical efforts highlight Pennsylvania’s importance in determining the next president.
Nakesha McGuirk, 44, a Democrat from Bensalem, sized up the line and said: “I did not expect the line to be this long. But I’m going to stick it out.”
McGuirk has a long work commute next week and is worried about her ability to make it to the polls on Election Day. “I figured that rather than run into the risk of not getting home in time to go and vote, that it would be better to just do it this way early.”
Voter Patrick Lonieski, a Trump supporter from Buckingham, also found it more convenient with his work schedule to vote Friday in a county he called “pivotal” to the outcome.
“I just want to make sure I get my ballot in and it’s counted,” said Lonieski, 62, who was joined by his 18-year-old son, voting for the first time.
