Thread by @stevenmazie

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.