Republican National Committee v. Genser
Emergency Docket
The emergency docket, sometimes called the “shadow docket,” consists mostly of requests by losing parties in the courts below for a stay of an injunction issued by the lower court, or for an injunction pending certiorari. They are supposed to be limited to circumstances in which emergency relief is requested.
What's at Stake
Voters in Butler County, Pennsylvania made a mistake in voting their mail ballots in the April 2024 primary election, forgetting to use the required secrecy envelope. Because their mail ballots could not be counted, they went to the polls in Election Day and voted provisional ballots. The County later determined that it would not count their provisional ballots, and the voter’s appealed, arguing that Pennsylvania law requires that when an eligible voter attempts to vote by mail but the mail ballot is rendered void due to some defect like lacking a secrecy envelope, the eligible voter may cast a provisional ballot and have that ballot counted notwithstanding the failed attempt to vote by mail.
Summary
This case involves two voters who voted by provisional ballot in the 2024 Democratic Primary in April. These voters tried to vote by mail but their mail ballot packages were rejected because of a defect (in their case, a “naked ballot”). Most counties in Pennsylvania have long let voters vote by provisional ballot in these circumstances based on Pennsylvania law, which says that counties “shall count” voters’ provisional ballots in those circumstances. Butler County did not.
The voters appealed and won in the Commonwealth Court, after which the Republican Party, which intervened in the case, appealed and sought further review from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court take up this case and decide it before the election.
On October 23, 2024, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided the case in voters’ favor, ruling that the Pennsylvania Election Code required their ballots to be counted.
On October 28, 2024, the Republican Party filed an application for a stay in the United States Supreme Court, based on a radical argument that this purely state law decision violated the U.S. Constitution, and asked the Supreme Court to intervene and order new rules for the treatment provisional ballots in Pennsylvania. The voters filed their response on October 30. ACLU joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center, and Dechert LLP to represent the voters.
Legal Documents
-
11/01/2024
Order Denying Stay -
10/31/2024
Reply Brief in Support of Emergency Application for a Stay Pending Disposition of Petition for Certiorari -
10/31/2024
Response in Opposition of Genser and Matis
Date Filed: 11/01/2024
Court: Supreme Court (U.S.)
Date Filed: 10/31/2024
Court: Supreme Court (U.S.)
Date Filed: 10/31/2024
Court: Supreme Court (U.S.)
-
09/26/2024
Opinion
Press Releases
ACLU and Public Interest Law Center Comment on U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Pennsylvania Voting Challenge