SCOTUS orders PA to segregate late-arriving mail ballots

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered Pennsylvania election boards to segregate mail ballots that arrived after Election Day and count them separately from the state’s overall vote tally. That at least leaves open the possibility that the justices could exclude the late-arriving ballots in a subsequent ruling.

The order, signed by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, granted only part of what the Pennsylvania Republicans wanted. They also requested that SCOTUS order Pennsylvania to stop the counting of the late-arriving ballots.

“This preserves the status quo until any further order of the Court, after the possibility of a response,” said Ned Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University. “It’s also significant in that it does not stop the counting of the segregated votes, but rather requires them to be counted separately — which is a sensible way to prevent any possible commingling of ballots that could not be undone later.”

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