1. What ruling did the Pennsylvania Supreme Court make about mail in ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day?

2. When the Republican Party of Pennsylvania appealed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, why didn’t the justices agree to hear the appeal?

3. How did Justice Samuel Alito explain the reason for the court later granting a request to review the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision? (What did he say about a state legislature’s authority vs. that of judges to rule on federal elections?)

4. What did the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners Ray D’Agostino decide to do with the mail in ballots received after 8pm. on Election Day?

5. a) How did Commissioner D’Agostino explain his decision? Be specific.
b) Do you agree with Commissioner D’Agostino’s decision and explanation? Explain your answer.

6. What arguments have Republicans made when appealing state extensions on accepting mail in ballots days after Election Day?

7. Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes in 2016 (out of almost 5,900,000 ballots cast) - a very slim margin. He was the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state since 1988. Pennsylvania will be close again this year. Judges in Pennsylvania and several other states have ruled that ballots received days after the election (3-10 days after, depending on the state) must be counted, delaying the final results possibly for a week or more.

(In 2016, Trump won North Carolina by 173,000 votes (of 4,500,000 cast). North Carolina’s new deadline for accepting mail in ballots is November 12 - almost a week and a half after the election).

Democrats argue that voters need extra time to get mail in ballots in due to covid and the large number of people using mail-in ballots instead of voting in-person. What do you think? Should the deadline for receiving ballots be extended well past Election Day? Explain your answer.