The decision by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (an appellate court) about the state’s mail-in voting law was legally correct.
Pennsylvania’s Constitution (Article 7) requires that if you want to vote in an election, you must do so in person. This was done to prevent fraudulent voters. (Yes, you are allowed to vote absentee, but only under certain identified exceptions….and that’s stated in the Constitution.) So, in Pennsylvania, “no excuse” mail-in voting is unconstitutional.
In 2019, Pennsylvania’s legislature passed a law changing those rules by allowing anyone to vote by mail. But it is a fundamental law in America —and always has been— that you cannot change the Constitution by a legislative act. It can only be accomplished by an amendment to the Constitution duly approved by the people. Pennsylvania didn’t do that, and today’s court correctly ruled on that basis. And the ruling is consistent with previous decisions over the last 200 years.
The Democrats’ other argument was absurd. They claimed that no one sued before the contested 2020 election, only afterward. That’s immaterial. There’s no statute of limitations when it comes to the constitutionality of a law. A legislative act can be challenged in court at any time as unconstitutional. It is always timely.
The court today was absolutely correct. But it will almost certainly be overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Why? Because the seven justices are all elected. And Democrats hold a majority. When it comes to cases involving voting, the court consistently sides with Democrats. They ignore the law and Constitution, deciding cases on a purely partisan basis.
We saw this during the 2020 election when Democrats on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court literally re-wrote —without any authority— the voting law to count ballots received up to 3 days after the election, even though that was clearly unlawful.
So, as long as Democrats control the Pennsylvania Supreme Court…utter disregard for the law and the Constitutional will continue.
