Supreme Court allows Pennsylvania to count contested provisional ballots, rejecting Republican plea

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from Republicans that could have led to thousands of provisional ballots not being counted in Pennsylvania as the presidential campaigns vie in the final days before the election in the nation’s biggest battleground state.

The justices left in place a state Supreme Court ruling that elections officials must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected.

The ruling is a victory for voting-rights advocates, who had sought to force counties — primarily Republican-controlled counties — to let voters cast a provisional ballot on Election Day if their mail-in ballot was to be rejected for a garden-variety error.

While the Supreme Court action was a setback for Republicans, the GOP separately claimed victory in a decision by Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court. That court rejected a last-ditch effort by voting rights advocates to ensure that mail-in ballots that lack an accurate, handwritten date on the exterior envelope will still count in this year’s presidential election.

The rulings are the latest in four years of litigation over voting by mail in Pennsylvania, where every vote truly counts in presidential races. Republicans have sought in dozens of court cases to push the strictest possible interpretation for throwing out mail-in ballots, which are predominantly cast by Democrats.

Taken together, Friday's near-simultaneous rulings will ensure a heavy emphasis on helping thousands of people vote provisionally on Election Day if their mail-in ballot was rejected — and potentially more litigation.

As of Thursday, about 9,000 ballots out of more than 1.6 million returned have arrived at elections offices around Pennsylvania lacking a secrecy envelope, a signature or a handwritten date, according to state records.

Pennsylvania is the biggest presidential election battleground this year, with 19 electoral votes, and is expected to play an outsized role in deciding the election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.

It was decided by tens of thousands of votes in 2016 when Trump won it and again in 2020 when Democrat Joe Biden won it.

A voting-rights lawyer in Pennsylvania who helped bring both cases said it is almost certain that another case over undated ballots will be back before the state Supreme Court within days after the presidential election if it is close.

“It’s almost certain that this is going to be raised again after the election, especially if it’s a close election,” Witold Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said in an interview.

In its unsigned, two-page order, the state’s highest court put a lower court ruling on hold that would have required counties to count the ballots. The high court said the case won’t apply to the presidential election being decided next week, but held out the possibility that it would still rule on the case at a later time.

The rulings came as voters had their last chance Friday to apply for a mail-in ballot in a bellwether suburban Philadelphia county while a county clear across the state gave voters who didn't receive their ballot in the mail another chance to get one.

A judge in Erie County, in Pennsylvania's northwestern corner, ruled Friday in a lawsuit brought by the Democratic Party that about 15,000 people who applied for a mail ballot but didn't receive it may go to the county elections office and get a replacement through Monday.

The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot has passed in Pennsylvania. But the judge's ruling means that Erie County's elections office will be open every day through Monday for voters to go in, cancel the mail-in ballot they didn't receive in the mail, and get another one over the counter.

In suburban Philadelphia's Bucks County, a court set a deadline of 5 p.m. for voters there to apply for and receive a mail-in ballot after a judge had ordered a three-day extension in response to a Trump campaign lawsuit that accused the county of breaking the law by turning voters from election offices that had struggled to keep up with demand.

Lines outside the county's elections office in Doylestown were long throughout the day — snaking down the sidewalk — with the process taking about two hours by Friday afternoon.

Nakesha McGuirk, 44, a Democrat from Bensalem, sized up the line and said: “I did not expect the line to be this long. But I’m going to stick it out.”

McGuirk, a Harris supporter, faces a long work commute next week and worried about her ability to make it to the polls on Election Day. “I figured that rather than run into the risk of not getting home in time to go and vote, that it would be better to just do it this way early,” she said.

Republican voter Patrick Lonieski, a Trump supporter from Buckingham, also found it more convenient with his work schedule to vote Friday in a county he called “pivotal” to the outcome.

“I just want to make sure I get my ballot in and it’s counted,” said Lonieski, 62, who was joined by his 18-year-old son, voting for the first time.

The line steadily dwindled as 5 p.m. approached.

One last straggler broke into a run to make it by the deadline as elections workers cheerfully counted down the seconds. “Let’s go! Hurry up! You can do it!” a bystander yelled. People broke into applause as she walked through the door — just in time.

Associated Press writer Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report. Levy reported from Harrisburg.

Voters line up outside the Bucks County Administration Building during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Doylestown, Pa. (AP Photo/Michael Rubinkam)

Voters line up outside the Bucks County Administration Building during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Doylestown, Pa. (AP Photo/Michael Rubinkam)

People wait in line outside the Bucks County government building to apply for an on-demand mail ballot on the last day to request one in Doylestown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini)

People wait in line outside the Bucks County government building to apply for an on-demand mail ballot on the last day to request one in Doylestown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini)

People wait in line outside the Bucks County government building to apply for an on-demand mail ballot on the last day to request one in Doylestown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will host rallies within 7 miles of each other Friday night in the Milwaukee area as part of a fevered final push for votes in swing-state Wisconsin's largest county.

Milwaukee is home to the most Democratic votes in Wisconsin, but its conservative suburbs are where most Republicans live and are a critical area for Trump as he tries to reclaim the state he narrowly won in 2016 and lost in 2020. One reason for his defeat was a drop in support in those Milwaukee suburbs and an increase in Democratic votes in the city.

“Both candidates recognize that the road to the White House runs directly through Milwaukee County,” said Hilario Deleon, chair of the county's Republican Party.

The dueling rallies — Trump is in downtown Milwaukee and Harris is in a suburb — may be the candidates' last appearances in Wisconsin before Election Day. Both sides say the race is once again razor tight for the state's 10 electoral votes. Four of the past six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than a point, or fewer than 23,000 votes.

It was absentee votes from Milwaukee, which typically are reported early in the morning after Election Day, that tipped Wisconsin for President Joe Biden in 2020.

Democrats know they must turn out voters in Milwaukee, also home to the state's largest Black population, to counter Trump's support in the suburbs and rural areas. Harris is hoping to replicate, and exceed, turnout from 2020 in the city, which voted 79% for Biden that year.

Trump is trying to cut into the Democrats' margin. Deleon called it a “lose by less” mentality.

Before heading to Milwaukee, Harris campaigned in the southern Wisconsin city of Janesville, where she talked up her support for organized labor in a speech at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local.

“Nobody understands better than a union member that as Americans we all rise or fall together,” Harris said. She promised to eliminate “unnecessary” degree requirements for federal jobs and push private sector employers to do the same.

She called Trump an “an existential threat to America’s labor movement."

Harris said Trump is “one of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs in American history,” hanging on the word “loser’ as she was flanked by union workers in bright yellow T-shirts.

Trump, whose base includes working-class voters, has made sporadic efforts to reach out to rank-and-file union members, who have traditionally been core to the Democratic coalition.

Harris later went after Trump on health care, telling hundreds who packed into a high school in Little Chute, Wisconsin, that the former president wants to undo the Affordable Care Act law and take the United States back to the days when insurers could deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions.

“Access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it,” the vice president said. She also pushed her proposal to have Medicare pay for home health care to help the “sandwich generation” of people who are raising kids while caring for elderly parents.

Trump supporters waiting in line for his Milwaukee rally said they are feeling optimistic about his chances of winning next week.

“I feel the Democrats can only win if they cheat,” said Matt Kumorkiewicz, 55, a retired carpenter from nearby Oak Creek, echoing a common refrain from the former president.

He and several others in line were wearing yellow reflective safety vests in response to Biden’s comment seemingly calling Trump supporters “garbage.”

“We’re not garbage,” he said.

Peter Schmidt, 66, said he bought a vest from a street vendor for $15. Others in the crowd were wearing garbage bags.

Trump spent the afternoon in the Detroit area, where he stopped at a restaurant in Dearborn, the nation's largest Arab-majority city, to meet with supporters. Many in the community remain distrustful after his first act in office in 2017 was to sign an executive order effectively banning travelers from predominantly Muslim countries.

In Milwaukee, a lot of Democrats are "anxious and cautiously optimistic," said Angela Lang, founder and executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities in Milwaukee.

“Especially given 2016 when there wasn't the same amount of energy, I think it’s clear Dems learned lessons about the importance of Milwaukee and Wisconsin as a whole,” she said.

In another late outreach effort targeting Black voters, former President Bill Clinton campaigned with local faith leaders on Thursday night at a center for celebrating African American music and arts in Milwaukee.

Hillary Clinton did not campaign in Wisconsin in 2016 after her primary loss, a mistake that Harris is not repeating. The Friday stop will be her ninth in the state as a presidential candidate and her fifth to Milwaukee or its suburbs. It will be Trump's 10th stop in Wisconsin, not counting the Republican National Convention, which was held in Milwaukee, and his third visit to the Milwaukee area.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Brian Schimming said that Harris having to return to the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee shows she is on defense while Trump is on offense.

The Milwaukee Election Commission estimated on Thursday that it expects to receive more than 100,000 ballots by Election Day. But that lags early vote returns from the conservative suburbs.

“The question no one knows the answer to is who those voters are voting for,” said Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler. “My feeling is that there may be some pleasant surprises for Harris.”

Lang, the Milwaukee organizer, said it is a tradition for many voters her group contacts to cast their ballots on Election Day. And if they don't?

“Then we’re in a world of trouble,” said Mandela Barnes, a former lieutenant governor and president of Power to the Polls, a group that’s been working to boost turnout.

Trump’s rally is being staged in the same arena where the Republican convention took place three months ago. The Harris rally, to be held at the state fair park in West Allis, will include the rapper Cardi B, who is slated only to speak, and performances by GloRilla, Flo Milli, MC Lyte, The Isley Brothers and DJ Gemini Gilly.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at Little Chute High School, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Little Chute, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Macomb Community College Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at Little Chute High School, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Little Chute, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Macomb Community College Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Janesville, Wis., Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at Macomb Community College Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Macomb Community College Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Janesville, Wis., Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak at a campaign event Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign rally at Resch Center, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

This combination of photos shows Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, speaking at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, speaking at a campaign event at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo)