BREAKING: Supreme Court *rejects* Pennsylvania Republicans’ second attempt to block extended ballot deadline.
[correcting earlier tweet]: there are no dissents, but Justices Alito, Gorsuch and Thomas file a heated statement lamenting that the litigation got this far.
WOW: the Alito, Gorsuch & Thomas statement also indicates the PA petition could be re-considered AFTER the election and ballots could be thrown out THEN
Justice Kavanaugh seems to have switched sides from the earlier PA order, abandoning Gorsuch, Alito and Thomas's position.
The prospect of the Court taking cert on this question after Election Day was apparently a bridge too far for Kavanaugh.

And no wonder! That is basically an invitation for another Bush v. Gore.
BUT BUT BUT: the order says "additional opinions may follow" which means we could see a majority opinion explaining why the motion to expedite cert was denied and/or concurring ops from individuals justices. SO THIS IS NOT (NECESSARILY) THE FINAL ARRAY OF TAKES FROM THE JUSTICES.
Or...Kavanaugh could just be lying low for now and could always vote to grant cert later on.

That's possible, esp. after he was roundly criticized for a sloppy opinion in the WI case two days ago.
Imagine you’re a Pennsylvania voter. SCOTUS just told you your ballot can arrive three days after Election Day and still be counted. But three justices ALSO said your ballot could be thrown out LATER once the court has thought things through.
Those three conservative justices could not have possibly created more voter confusion six days before the election.

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More from @stevenmazie

28 Oct
It will be a hoot when the president changes his tune at 11:59 PM on November 3 when he is losing in key states.

He’ll insist that all the ballots be counted and he will be right.
It will be a bigger hoot when at the same moment he calls on states where he’s winning to stop the count
Read 4 tweets
26 Oct
BREAKING: Supreme Court sides with Republicans to block voting accommodations in Wisconsin. The vote is 5-3.
Justices Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor dissent.
Unlike recent emergency orders, the justices file 35 pages of opinions explaining their positions.
Read 12 tweets
22 Oct
NEW at SCOTUS: yet another emergency request from the GOP to block pandemic-related voting accommodations. This time in North Carolina. ImageImage
This request comes in a different posture from recent Republican requests, as it pits the GOP state legislature against the state board of elections, which entered into a consent judgement with advocacy groups pushing for the voting accommodations.
At issue: waived postmark and witness requirements and and an extended receipt deadline for mail-in ballots.

Republicans want all these erased.
Read 6 tweets
22 Oct
If you're wondering why CJ Roberts voted to reinstate the ban on curbside voting in Alabama tonight but voted to *permit* a voting accommodation in Pennsylvania on Monday...

The common denominator seems to be federalism: let the states run their elections as they choose.
Of course, it's a little more complicated than that.
In PA, SCOTUS refused to block a ruling from the state supreme court that extended (contrary to the legislature's wish) the deadline for mail-in ballots under the right-to-vote provision of the state constitution.
Read 5 tweets
22 Oct
BREAKING: Supreme Court votes 5-3 to block curbside voting in Alabama.
Justices Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor dissent.
The heart of the dissent
Read 6 tweets
21 Oct
Ratcliffe: Iran and Russia have taken specific actions to influence public opinion in America.

They have voter registration info.

Iran has sent spoof emails to intimidate voters and damage President Trump, Ratcliffe says.
Ratcliffe: you can be confident your votes are secure.
So far no clarification of how Iran's actions were intended to damage Trump, specifically. Puzzling.
Read 7 tweets

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