OPINION | This article contains opinion. This site is licensed to publish this content.
Ted Cruz claims he will go before the Supreme Court with an election-related case, according to Fox News.
The case alleges that no-excuse mail-in voting is unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court agrees, the commonwealth’s mail-in votes in this past presidential election could be thrown out.
“We supported passage of Act 77 because we believed every Pennsylvanian should have more opportunities to participate in our democratic process.”
“The legislation was carefully drafted to protect the integrity of our elections and included specific provisions relating to deadlines and signature verification.” The statement added that the State Supreme Court later “overrule[d] the will of the legislature and governor by changing deadlines and eliminating provisions requiring signature verification, thereby applying much looser standards to mail-in ballots than are applied to ballots cast in person.”
“It raises pure issues of law, and I believe the Supreme Court should choose to take the case. I think they should hear the appeal,” said Cruz.
One of the Senate Judiciary Committee members also noted that “at a time when this country is so divided, when people are so angry, I think we need a sense of resolution, and we need the Supreme Court to step in and ensure that we’re following the Constitution and following the law.”
Cruz said, “Right now, it is not healthy for democracy, what we’re seeing, and in Pennsylvania, the problem was made worse because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is a partisan Democratic court that issued multiple decisions just on their face contrary to the law. That’s not how elections are supposed to work.”
“We will have a response and we could have a decision as early as tomorrow from the Supreme Court whether or not they will take the case.”
“When you look at a country where 39% of Americans right now believe this last election was rigged, that’s a real problem for confidence in the integrity of our electoral system. So, I’m hopeful the Supreme Court will step forward to its responsibility and resolve this case and resolve other cases as needed.”
From Fox News:
Kelly and Parnell were initially granted a stay by Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough, but Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration summarily filed an appeal with the State Supreme Court; a 5-2 Democratic majority. The higher court sided with Wolf, and Kelly’s team moved to get the U.S. Supreme Court to rule.
The plaintiffs argue that the state does not have grounds to allow non-absentee vote-by-mail without a constitutional amendment. Nearly 30 Republican members of the state legislature have signed a document in amicus with Kelly and Parnell’s case.
Cruz noted that the U.S. Supreme Court feels the “urgency” of the moment, given the upcoming “safe harbor” deadline for selecting electors.
