While he waits for Roe v. Wade to be overturned, salivating all the while, no doubt, Alito decided to throw a wrench into the Pennsylvania Senate race and give a little assist to Dr. Oz -- and maybe disenfranchise some Democratic votes down the line.
The Philadelphia Inquirer explains the significance of Alito's order, which was issued in relation to a judicial race:
The U.S. Supreme Court has pressed pause on the ongoing debate over whether to count undated mail ballots, issuing an emergency stay Tuesday while it decides whether to hear an appeal on the issue.
The two-sentence order — issued by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who oversees matters for the court arising from Pennsylvania — injected a new level of uncertainty in a dispute that has roiled the razor’s-edge Senate primary campaign between David McCormick and Mehmet Oz.
The order was filed without explanation for the justice’s decision just hours after a lengthy hearing before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on the McCormick campaign’s bid to have such ballots — which arrived on time but are missing the required handwritten date on the outer envelope — counted in his race.
The full impact of Alito’s order remains uncertain, but it is certain to re-stoke debate on both sides.
McCormick seems to be winning the mail-in vote so the ruling could be a boost to Oz in that very tight race.
But while I’m just fine with anything that puts the GOP in further disarray, disenfranchising votes over a technicality would likely have negative impact on Democrats in the general election. In the 2020 election, Pennsylvania Democrats returned nearly three times as many mail-in ballots as Republicans. There was an even greater disparity among Democrats and Republicans in the May 17 primary for governor.
Don’t tell me Alito doesn’t know the implications.
