Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar said the Nov. 12 verification deadline for late-arriving ballots corresponded to the state Election Code requirement that voters have six days after the election to submit proof of identity and the Nov. 6 ballot receipt deadline approved by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The secretary blasted the petition as "a last gasp attempt to prevent legitimate votes from being counted."
"The secretary's interpretation of the statutory deadline in light of the three-day extension ordered by the Supreme Court is certainly not clearly erroneous and, as a result, is entitled to 'substantial deference' and is to be given 'controlling weight,'" Boockvar's brief said, citing the Supreme Court's 2014 opinion in Lancaster Cty v. Pa. Labor Relations Bd.
A day after the Nov. 3 general election, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee launched the present action on the grounds that the state Election Code required proof of identification to be provided by Monday and that Boockvar did not have authority to alter that deadline.
Boockvar had advised county boards of election in a Nov. 1 guidance that voters — whose ballots were received between 8 p.m. on Election Day and 5 p.m. Friday, which was the ballot receipt deadline set by the Supreme Court — could submit proof of identification by Nov. 12, court documents state.
In a Tuesday brief, the campaign and the committee requested a court order barring the counting of ballots from voters whose proof of identification was not received by Monday.
"Pennsylvania elections must be free, fair, well-run, and compliant with the Pennsylvania Election Code as written by the General Assembly," the campaign and the committee said.
"Secretary Boockvar's attempt to institute new rules, on ad hoc basis and on the eve of the general election through the issuance of the November 1, 2020 guidance is an attack on the rule of law and the integrity of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's November 3, 2020 general election," according to the brief.
But for voters whose ballots were received after Election Day and who face identification issues, Boockvar asserted that the six-day clock did not start ticking until Friday. That's the deadline the Supreme Court gave for mail-in and absentee ballots to arrive if they were mailed or dropped off by the end of Election Day, Boockvar noted.
The high court decision "altered 'the timeline for the 2020 general election mail-in ballot process' and extended the received-by deadline by three days to 'protect[] voters' rights' and enforce the free and equal elections clause," Boockvar said in Tuesday's brief.
"Straightforward application of the Supreme Court's decision requires a corresponding extension of the proof of identification deadline in [Election Code] 25 P.S. § 3146.8(h)(2)," Boockvar said. "Anything less would deny voters the protection and benefit of the three-day extension ordered by the Supreme Court."
On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee also urged the state court to toss the petition, arguing in part that the Trump campaign and the RNC lack standing because they've failed to show that Boockvar's guidance has injured or will injure them.
The Trump campaign "does not allege that, or explain how, providing mail-in voters additional time to provide missing proof of identification would harm President Trump's electoral prospects or any other interest it may hold as a political campaign," the DNC said in a brief.
"It does not assert, for example, that the voters who would be disenfranchised by the requested injunction are more likely to vote against President Trump than for him," the brief said.
To the extent the RNC "implies that its voters are injured by other eligible Pennsylvanians' participation in the election, that too is a generalized grievance that cannot create standing," the DNC said.
"Any voter could make this claim in any election," the committee added.
Counsel for the Trump campaign and the RNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee are represented by Ronald L. Hicks Jr., Jeremy A. Mercer and Carolyn B. McGee of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP.
Boockvar is represented by Daniel T. Brier and Donna A. Walsh of Myers Brier & Kelly LLP; J. Bart DeLone, Howard G. Hopkirk, Sean A. Kirkpatrick, Michael J. Scarinci and Daniel B. Mullen of the Pennsylvania attorney general's office; and Daniel T. Donovan, Michael A. Glick, Susan M. Davies, Madelyn A. Morris and Kristen L. Bokhan of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
The Democratic National Committee is represented by Marc E. Elias, Uzoma N. Nkwonta, Daniel C. Osher, Joel J. Ramirez and Laura Hill of Perkins Coie LLP and Adam C. Bonin of The Law Office of Adam C. Bonin.
The case is Donald Trump for President Inc. et al. v. Boockvar et al., case number 602 MD 2020, in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.
--Additional reporting by Matthew Santoni. Editing by Abbie Sarfo.
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