Keystone Today

Those challenging the election in Pennsylvania have until the morning of Dec. 8 to get their findings in. 

That is according to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. 

Alito is overseeing the latest emergency request for injunctive relief. This time the Trump campaign and its allies are seeking to have mail-in ballots declared unconstitutional. 

“Respondents have begun the steps necessary to certify the results of the Election, which was undertaken pursuant to an unconstitutional, no-excuse absentee voting scheme. Absent  intervention by this Court, Respondents will complete the process of certifying the results of an election, and potentially cast electoral college votes for president and vice president, conducted in a manner which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has long rejected as unconstitutional,” the brief reads. 

In the days following the election, Alito ordered mail-in ballots be segregated from those cast in person. 

In his action, Alito was backing a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruling. In that ruling, ballots received after Nov. 9 were ordered to be segregated pending voter identification verification.

In another challenge of mail-in ballots, plaintiffs filed an emergency injunction request on Dec. 3. 

“Here,  all  three  branches  of  Pennsylvania’s  government have disregarded the Constitution established by their own People, and thus the Federal Constitution, as well,” the filing reads. “Keeping them “within the limits assigned to their authority” may only be accomplished by granting Applicants the stay/injunction and other emergency relief they seek, to permit review of the important constitutional questions they  present.  Given  the  implications  for  Congressional  elections, amici  curiae, members of the House or Senate, are gravely concerned with Pennsylvania’s actions, and are greatly interested in seeing this Court provide that review.”

Four amicus curiae, “friend of the court”, briefs have been filed thus far.

The Pennsylvania Republican Party filed a brief in support of the plaintiffs. 

“The PA Republican Party was founded on November  27, 1854 as a protector of individual  freedom. It seeks to preserve the sanctity of liberty of the individual and the limitation of  government. In doing so it looks to ensure that Government acts to preserve freedom.  By maintaining these ideals, the PA Republican Party is able to provide this Honorable Court with compelling arguments,” the PA GOP wrote in its brief. 

The injunction is supported by the 32 members of the the Pennsylvania General Assembly. 

Members supporting the injunctive relief are P. Michael Jones, Paul T. Schemel, Robert W. Kauffman, James A. Cox, Jr., Francis X. Ryan, Stephanie P. Borowicz, Barbara J. Gleim, Kathy L. Rapp, Russell H. Diamond, David M. Maloney, Sr., Dawn W. Keefer, Cris E. Dush, David H. Zimmerman, David H. Rowe, Kristin L. Phillips-Hill, Daryl D. Metcalfe, Daniel P. Moul, Eric R. Nelson, Valerie S. Gaydos, Judith F. Ward, Michael R. Regan, Donald Bud Cook, Douglas V. Mastriano, Brett R. Miller, Thomas R. Sankey III, Michael J. Puskaric, James P. Rigby, Matthew D. Dowling, Richard S. Irvin, David J. Arnold, Jr., Jerome P. Knowles, and Aaron J. Bernstine. 

A group of 23 members of congress signed onto a brief together. 

“Essentially, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has insulated Act 77, a significant and patently unconstitutional alteration of the means by which the Nation’s fifth-largest State chooses its members of Congress and Presidential electors, from any judicial scrutiny,” the members of congress said in their brief. 

See the list of members of Congress who signed the amicus curiae below: 

Rep. John Joyce, M.D. - Pennsylvania 

Rep. Fred Keller - Pennsylvania 

Rep. Dan Meuser - Pennsylvania 

Rep. Scott Perry - Pennsylvania 

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler - Pennsylvania 

Rep. Lloyd Smucker - Pennsylvania 

Rep. Glenn Thompson - Pennsylvania 

Rep. Mo Brooks - Alabama 

Rep. Andy Biggs - Arizona 

Rep. Debbie Lesko - Arizona 

Rep. Matt Gaetz - Florida 

Rep. Ted Yoho - Florida 

Rep. Jody Hice - Georgia 

Rep. Steve King - Iowa 

Rep. Andy Harris - Maryland 

Rep. Dan Bishop - North Carolina 

Rep. Ted Budd - North Carolina 

Rep. Warren Davidson - Ohio 

Rep. Jim Jordan - Ohio 

Rep. Ralph Norman - South Carolina 

Rep. Michael Cloud - Texas 

Rep. Louie Gohmert - Texas 

Rep. Randy Weber - Texas

Another amicus curiae features national players on the political scene from the past. 

Signers of that brief include:

Carter Phillips, Assistant to the Solicitor General, 1981-1984. Stuart M. Gerson, Acting Attorney General, 1993; AssistantAttorney General for the Civil Division, 1989–1993; Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 1972–1975.John Danforth, United States Senator from Missouri, 1976-1995; United States Ambassador to the United Nations, 2004-2005; Attorney General of Missouri, 1969-1976.Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, 2001–2003; Governor, New Jersey, 1994–2001.Lowell Weicker,Governor, Connecticut, 1991-1995; United States Senator from Connecticut, 1971-1989; Representative of the Fourth Congressional District of Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives, 1969-1971.Constance Morella, Representative of the Eighth Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives, 1987-2003; Permanent Representative from the United States to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2003-2007.Christopher Shays, Representative of the Fourth Congressional District of Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives, 1987-2009.Donald Ayer, Deputy Attorney General 1989-90; Principal Deputy Solicitor General 1986-88; United States Attorney, E.D. Cal 1982-86; Assistant U.S. Attorney, N.D. Cal 1977-79.2aJohn Bellinger III, Legal Adviser to the Department of State,2005-2009; Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council, 2001-2005.Edward J. Larson, Counsel, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, United States Department of Education, 1986-1987; Associate Minority Counsel, Committee on Education and Labor, United States House of Representatives, 1983-1986.Alan Charles Raul, Associate Counsel to the President, 1986-1988; General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, 1988-1989; General Counselof the United States Department of Agriculture, 1989-1993; Vice Chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, 2006-2008.Paul Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security, 2005-2009; Office of Independent Counsel, 1998-1999; United States Department of Justice, 1986-1991.Robert Shanks, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, 1981-1984.Stanley Twardy, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, 1985–1991.Richard Bernstein, Appointed by the United States Supreme Court to argue in Cartmell v. Texas, 529 U.S. 513, 515 (2000);Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718, 725 (2016).