Pennsylvania GOP leaders ask US Supreme Court to overturn mail-in-ballot ruling

Pennsylvania legislative leaders have made a request to the US Supreme Court to overturn a high court ruling that extended the due date for mail ballots in the key battleground state, as President Donald Trump escalates his attack on mail-in ballots.

The request made on Monday, asked the Supreme Court to stop the decision that was made at Pennsylvania’s highest court earlier this month, allowing mail-in ballots received three days after Election Day to be counted if they are postmarked by November 3. 

"In a year where there is a very real possibility that the final presidential election result hinges on Pennsylvania," the new rule "could destroy the American public's confidence in the electoral system as a whole," read the appeal.

The state’s Republicans said a Pennsylvania statute requires mail ballots to be received by 8 pm ET on Election Day.

They claimed that the court’s ruling opens the door to illegal votes.

Two Republican Senate leaders in the state said in an emergency application saying that the court decision was "sowing chaos into the general election process."

They described it as "an open invitation to voters to cast their ballots after Election Day."

The top court's decision could affect disputes over mail ballots in other states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, according to Edwin Foley, an election law expert.

The appeal to the Supreme Court comes just days after Trump nominated conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the court, despite calls from Democrats to let the winner of the November election choose the nominee for the seat.

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"This is an issue that's in multiple battleground states and could be very important for that reason," he said.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic millions of people prefer not to vote in person in November 3 presidential elections.

At least in nine states, every registered voter will automatically be mailed an application to request an absentee ballot.

Trump, however, has repeatedly cast doubt on mail voting, claiming that mail-in ballots lead to mass voter fraud.

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But experts believe that by escalating his ongoing attack on mail-in ballots, Trump was seeding the ground to contest the election as” rigged or fraudulent” in the event of losing the election, and push the country into chaos.

Polls show on Tuesday that Trump’s democratic rival, Joe Biden has opened up a 9-point lead over the president in Pennsylvania — a state Trump won in 2016 by less than a single percentage point.

The poll, by Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Trump with 45 percent support compared with Biden’s 54 percent among likely voters polled.

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