The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld the commonwealth’s mail ballot law, preserving for the time being a popular voting method that passed by the legislature with bipartisan support but was later challenged by Republican elected officials. In a 5-2 decision released Tuesday, the justices rejected the GOP argument that the legislature did not have the power under the state constitution to allow Pennsylvanians to vote by mail without an excuse. The 2019 law, known as Act 77 and used for the first time during the contentious 2020 presidential election, ushered in the most sweeping expansion of voting access in Pennsylvania in decades. Despite the decision, ongoing Republican challenges to the law and a gubernatorial election later this year mean there is still some uncertainty about the future of mail voting. Read more.
