The unsigned verdict sends another message that the court’s majority has no interest in weakening the last election.
Before Monday, the judges had rejected several requests to dive into one of the most litigious elections in history, and denied petitions from then-President Donald Trump and other Republicans who won the election results in several states that President Joe Biden won. wanted to reverse.
There were no known abnormalities.
“Once again, the court’s involvement in the 2020 election is going with a moan, not a bang,” said Steve Vladeck, an analyst and professor at the CNN Supreme Court at the University of Texas.
This was a heated debate in the weeks before and after the election, as some Republicans complained that state courts would not have the final say over their state rules.
The argument goes that the Constitution gives the state legislature – not the governor or state courts – the final say on elections and the way in which states elect voters. Critics of the so-called “independent state legislature” doctrine say that “legislature” is a broad term, including commissions given legislative powers by the state constitution.
After the election, Trump invited leaders of the Pennsylvania legislature to the White House, making unfounded allegations that widespread voter fraud had taken place, although no court agreed. Biden won the state by about 82,000 votes.
The 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals earlier dismissed the case because the protesters did not have the right to pursue the case. The protesters wanted the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling and would rule that the Supreme Court in Pennsylvania appropriated the authority of the Pennsylvania General Assembly when it changed the voting rules prescribed by the legislature.
Vladeck said the court shift Monday left the long-term legal question unanswered.
“By revoking the ruling below and ordering the lower court to dismiss the case as a dispute, the judges avoided tacitly endorsing or rejecting the lower court’s analysis, leaving no federal precedent for the question. “whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was allowed to extend the deadline for receiving ballots last fall,” Vladeck said.
This story has been updated with additional details.