October 19, 2020: Last week, a federal judge upheld the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s mail ballot drop boxes, county residency restriction for poll watchers, and other voting rules, rejecting claims of “voter fraud” as too “speculative” and supported by “scant” evidence. The ruling, in Donald J. Trump for President v. Boockvar, will ensure that eligible Pennsylvania voters can vote safely this year.
In June, the Trump reelection campaign, Republican National Committee, and several Republican state representatives and Republican “poll watchers” filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s Act 77, a bipartisan bill which permits “no excuse” mail-in voting and removes barriers to elections. The plaintiffs’ challenge was based on the false premise that voting by mail “invites fraud and undermines the public’s confidence in the integrity of elections.” Contrary to these claims, there is little to no evidence that mail-in voting is riddled with fraud or undermines voting in any way.
Sierra Club and our ally, PennFuture, intervened in the Republicans’ lawsuit in July to help defend Act 77 and ensure that no Pennsylvanian is forced to choose between attending a physical polling place – and thus exposing themselves to COVID-19 – and voting in the upcoming presidential election.
In September, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on some of the state law issues at play in the federal case, including deciding that Pennsylvania election law permits the use of ballot drop boxes. In last week’s ruling, the Judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ remaining claims and granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants and defendant-intervenors.
Read the full press release here on the Brennan Center for Justice website!