USA Supreme Court thwarts Republican plans in Pennsylvania

The US Supreme Court has stopped an attempt by the Republicans to change the rules for voting in the potentially decisive state of Pennsylvania shortly before the presidential election. The judges rejected an application that aimed to prevent certain provisional ballots from being counted in the state. These ballots are used when there is doubt about a person's eligibility to vote. They are kept separately and only counted after verification.

The court's decision allows people whose absentee ballots were rejected due to a missing security envelope to still cast their vote in person - in the form of a provisional ballot. The Republicans had demanded that these votes not be counted. This could have invalidated thousands of postal votes, which are often attributed to Democratic voters.

Decision could have legal repercussions

The court's decision now allows these votes to be counted for the time being, but the Supreme Court could revisit the issue at a later date. Further legal disputes are possible in the coming days.

Disputes like this are not uncommon in US elections. However, there are concerns that even after election day on November 5, there could be fierce disputes over the validity of votes. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump already raised accusations of vote rigging after his 2020 election defeat - which were rejected by the courts - and is once again sowing doubts about the integrity of the election.

The Supreme Court's decision is particularly significant in Pennsylvania, as the state is considered a key state in the election campaign. With its 19 electoral votes, the most populous of the seven "swing states" could be decisive for the outcome of the election.

SDA