14 Republican state lawmakers have filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging Pennsylvania’s 2019 mail-in voting law, which they say is unconstitutional and must be nullified.
The current law permits “no-excuse” mail-in-voting, which gives all residents the power to vote-by-mail with or without a specific reason to do so, according to the Associated Press.
The Pennsylvania state constitution requires the state to provide those with specific excuses, such as disabilities, illnesses, religious observances, or being out of town on business, an opportunity to vote by mail.
In 2019, Pennsylvania lawmakers voted in favor of the “no-excuse” vote-by-mail law, giving all Pennsylvanians the ability to vote-by-mail with or without an excuse.
However, Republican lawmakers argued that the 2019 law is unconstitutional because mail-in voting is strictly reserved for those with a valid reason, such as medical or military. 11 out of the 14 Republican lawmakers who filed the lawsuit voted for the “no-excuse” vote-by-mail law two years ago.
The lawsuit was filed in the state Commonwealth Court late Tuesday night.
Joe Biden was certified as the narrow winner in Pennsylvania for the 2020 presidential election, with more than 80,000 votes over Donald Trump – a number that has been contested. Of the nearly 7 million votes cast in the election, 2.5 million Pennsylvanians voted by mail, most of whom were Democrats.
