Aug 2, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Pennsylvania Supreme Court upholds state's mail-in voting law

Ivana Saric

Voter dropping off a mail-in ballot — A woman deposits her ballot in an official ballot drop box at the satellite polling station outside Philadelphia City Hall in Oct. 2020. Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images

In a 5-2 decision, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled to uphold the state's mail-in voting law, allowing voters to vote by mail in all future elections.

Why it matters: The decision overturns a lower court's decision in January that the state's mail-in voting law was unconstitutional.

The big picture: The state's mail-in voting law was passed in 2019 but became a focal point of Republican attacks from former President Donald Trump and his supporters in the wake of the 2020 election. President Biden won Pennsylvania.

Before the 2019 law, the mail-in voting option was available for individuals unable to vote in person for specific reasons, but the 2019 law allowed for no-excuse mail voting for all voters.

What they're saying: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that the state's constitution did not "establish in-person voting as an elector qualification or otherwise mandate in-person voting," Justice Christine Donohue wrote the majority opinion.

"We find no restriction in our Constitution on the General Assembly’s ability to create universal mail-in voting," Donohue added.

Go deeper: GOP primary turns into a war over mail-in voting

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Pennsylvania Supreme Court upholds state's mail-in voting law

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