Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20-542_2c83.pdf
Page Number: 13.0

2 

REPUBLICAN PARTY OF PENNSYLVANIA v.
DEGRAFFENREID 
ALITO, J., dissenting 

that mailed ballots be counted if received up to three days 
after the election, Pennsylvania Democratic Party v. Boock-
var,  ___  Pa.  ___,  ___–___,  238  A.  3d  345,  362,  371–372 
(2020).  Both the state Republican and Democratic parties 
urged us to grant review and decide this question before the 
2020 election.  See Application for Stay in Republican Party 
of  Pennsylvania  v.  Boockvar,  No.  20A54,  pp. 2–3;  Demo-
cratic  Party  of  Pennsylvania  Response  to  Application  for 
Stay  in  No.  20A54,  pp. 8–9.    But  the  Court,  by  an  evenly 
divided vote, refused to do so.  Nos. 20A53 and 20A54, ante, 
p. ___  (THOMAS,  ALITO,  GORSUCH,  and  KAVANAUGH,  JJ., 
noting  dissents).  That  unfortunate  decision  virtually  en-
sured that this important question could not be decided be-
fore the election.  See No. 20–542, ante, p. ___ (statement of
ALITO, J., joined by THOMAS and GORSUCH, JJ.). 

Now, the election is over, and there is no reason for refus-
ing to decide the important question that these cases pose. 
“The  provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitution  conferring  on 
state  legislatures,  not state  courts,  the  authority  to  make
rules governing federal elections would be meaningless if a
state court could override the rules adopted by the legisla-
ture  simply  by  claiming  that  a  state  constitutional  provi-
sion gave the courts the authority to make whatever rules 
it  thought  appropriate  for  the  conduct  of  a  fair  election.” 
Ante, at 3; see also Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing 
Bd.,  531  U. S.  70,  76  (2000)  (per  curiam).  A  decision  in 
these cases would not have any implications regarding the
2020  election. 
(Because  Pennsylvania  election  officials 
were ordered to separate mailed ballots received after the 
statutory deadline, see Republican Party of Pa. v. Boockvar, 
No.  20A84,  ante,  p. ___,  we  know  that  the  State  Supreme 
Court’s decision had no effect on the outcome of any election
for  federal  office  in  Pennsylvania.)    But  a  decision  would 
provide invaluable guidance for future elections.

Some  respondents  contend  that  the  completion  of  the 
2020 election rendered these cases moot and that they do