It’s no surprise to see the appeal to the Supreme Court, but it’s a very adept appeal on the issues, if not the remedies. The application is too long and detailed to excerpt here, although the legal analysis of the dismissal by our RedState colleague Shipwreckedcrew predicted the challenge in detail. More interesting, though, is the endorsement they picked up overnight from Senator Ted Cruz;
...US Senator from Texas. Republican contender for president in 2016, his stiff and abrasive manner earned him the title most hated man in the Senate.After a close win over
Beto O'Rourke, who tried to out-Lastino him, he grew a beard and let his biting wit shine through. Cruz's comments have been known to leave life-threatening wounds at better than forty feet...
. He distills the appeal down to a compelling arguments about the laches doctrine and the Catch-22 in which plaintiffs find themselves:
"In the current appeal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed the claim based on a legal doctrine called ’laches,’ which essentially means the plaintiffs waited too long to bring the challenge. But, the plaintiffs reasonably argue that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not applied that doctrine consistently and so they cannot selectively enforce it now.
"Even more persuasively, the plaintiffs point out that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has also held that plaintiffs don’t have standing to challenge an election law until after the election, meaning that the court effectively put them in a Catch-22: before the election, they lacked standing; after the election, they’ve delayed too long. The result of the court’s gamesmanship is that a facially unconstitutional election law can never be judicially challenged.
"Ordinarily, the U.S. Supreme Court would stay out of election disputes, especially concerning state law. But these are not ordinary times.
"As of today, according to Rooters/Ipsos polling, 39 percent of Americans believe that ’the election was rigged.’ That is not healthy for our democracy. The bitter division and acrimony we see across the nation needs resolution. And I believe the U.S. Supreme Court has a responsibility to the American people to ensure that we are following the law and following the Constitution. Hearing this case-now, on an emergency expedited basis-would be an important step in helping rebuild confidence in the integrity of our democratic system."
Related:
Act 77: 2020-11-30 Pennsylvania Supreme Court Tosses Challenge to Vote-by-Mail Because It Came Too Late
Act 77: 2020-11-29 Pennsylvania Supreme Court Overturns Block on Certification of Election Results
Act 77: 2020-11-28 Pennsylvania State Judge Upholds Halt To Certification, Finds Likelihood Mail-In Balloting Procedures Violate PA Constitution
Act 77: 2020-11-30 Pennsylvania Supreme Court Tosses Challenge to Vote-by-Mail Because It Came Too Late
Act 77: 2020-11-29 Pennsylvania Supreme Court Overturns Block on Certification of Election Results
Act 77: 2020-11-28 Pennsylvania State Judge Upholds Halt To Certification, Finds Likelihood Mail-In Balloting Procedures Violate PA Constitution