An initiative of the Jeffrey Golan & Frances Vilella-Vélez Voting Justice Project.

Amid a once-a-century pandemic and a drumbeat of misinformation and threats from prominent national politicians, we have spent 2020 protecting the right to vote in Pennsylvania.

The COVID-19 public health crisis created a critical need for a robust mail-in voting system. Voting mechanisms like drop boxes have been championed as effective means of minimizing the dangers inherent in casting a ballot during the pandemic. Used by states across the country that conduct all-mail elections, drop boxes are a secure and streamlined tool for allowing voters to safely hand-deliver their ballots.

Extended return deadlines for ballots can also help afford individuals security and confidence amid the dangers and uncertainty posed by the pandemic. Amid unprecedented demand for mail-in ballots and absentee ballots, extending the receipt deadline for mail-in and absentee ballots and sent or postmarked by Election Day is a common sense change that helps ensure that our elections are safe and accessible. Voters who are vulnerable to COVID-19 and lack access to drop boxes or extended return dates for their ballots risk disenfranchisement.

In a lawsuit filed in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in April 2020, we represented a voter and voting organizations who demanded a postmark deadline for mail-in ballots sent in for Pennsylvania’s June 2nd primary election. Though the case was ultimately dismissed by the PA Supreme Court, Governor Tom Wolf implemented the relief we sought by executive order in several Pennsylvania counties facing the steepest challenges.

We also filed an amicus brief in support of the petitioners in an election suit filed by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in state court, which sought to clarify state law on drop boxes and aimed to extend the deadline for the receipt of mail-in ballots to count ballots sent by Election Day and received by Friday, November 6. On September 17, in response to the lawsuit, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania cleared up many of the most pressing questions about voting by mail, ruling that state law allows county bureaus of elections to set up drop boxes and satellite offices to accept mail-in and absentee ballots.

In addition to the efforts discussed above, we have also combatted attempts at voter suppression in Pennsylvania. This summer, the Trump presidential campaign filed a federal lawsuit attempting to block voters in the Commonwealth from depositing their mail-in ballots in drop boxes, on the baseless grounds that drop boxes facilitate voter fraud. In so doing, the Trump campaign attempted to force Pennsylvanians to unnecessarily decide between their health and their vote. In August, joined by the ACLU, ACLU-PA, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and WilmerHale, we intervened in the lawsuit brought by the Trump campaign, representing NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference, Common Cause PA, the League of Women Voters of PA, and three individual voters. In October, after the Trump campaign failed to uncover any credible evidence of voter fraud—and we provided evidence on the efficacy and safety of drop boxes—District Court Judge Nicolas Ranjan of the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled against their attempt to remove drop boxes, dismissing all of their claims in a detailed opinion

We remain active in monitoring new developments in election-related litigation and law, and are prepared to do everything we can to ensure that every vote in Pennsylvania is lawfully counted.