133 MM 2020 No. 133 MM 2020 In the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania __________ PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ET AL. Petitioners, v. KATHY BOOCKVAR, IN HER CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, ET AL., Respondents. __________ BRIEF FOR COMMON CAUSE PENNSYLVANIA; LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA; THE BLACK POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT PROJECT; MAKE THE ROAD PENNSYLVANIA, A PROJECT OF MAKE THE ROAD STATES; PATRICIA M. DEMARCO; DANIELLE GRAHAM-ROBINSON, AND KATHLEEN WISE AS AMICI CURIAE ReceivedFiled 9/8/2020 4:27:524:27:00 PM Supreme Court Middle District TABLE OF CONTENTS INTEREST OF THE AMICI CURIAE ..................................................................... 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ................................................................................. 3 ARGUMENT ............................................................................................................. 6 I. COVID-19 HEALTH AND MORTALITY RISKS HAVE CREATED A SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC INTEREST IN SAFE AND SECURE ALTERNATIVES TO IN-PERSON VOTING............................................... 7 A. Pennsylvania Voters Are Legitimately Concerned About the Health Risks of In-Person Voting During the COVID-19 Pandemic ............................................................................................... 7 B. Mail-In Ballots and Drop-Boxes Are Secure and Reliable ................. 11 C. The Disruption of Mail Service May Disenfranchise Voters ............. 17 II. THE PENNSYLVANIA ELECTION CODE AND PENNSYLVANIA CONSTITUTION PERMIT THE USE OF SPECIALLY DESIGNATED ELECTION DROP-BOXES ........................ 19 A. The Pennsylvania Election Code Authorizes Counties to Accept Mail-In Ballots at Specially Designated Election Drop-Boxes .......... 19 B. Pennsylvania Counties Are Using Specially Designated Drop- Boxes for the Receipt of Voter Ballots ............................................... 20 C. The Free and Equal Elections Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution Supports Removal of Barriers to Voting ........................ 21 III. FAILURE TO COUNT BALLOTS WITHOUT SECRECY ENVELOPES DISENFRANCHISES PENNSYLVANIA VOTERS .......... 24 IV. THE CODE AND THE PENNSYLVANIA CONSTITUTION SHOULD BE INTERPRETED AS PROVIDING FOR DELIVERY OF A BALLOT TO A POST OFFICE BOX OR DROP-BOX ON THE DATE OF ELECTION, WITH RECEIPT BY ELECTION OFFICIALS WITHIN THREE DAYS OF THE ELECTION ...................... 26 A. States Endeavor to Ensure that Ballots Are Voted Before the Close of the Election ........................................................................... 26 B. Additionally, the Code Should Be Construed as Allowing a Mailbox Rule ....................................................................................... 27 C. The Pennsylvania Constitution Requires the Extension of the Ballot Deadline .................................................................................... 30 i CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 30 ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) Cases Appeal of James, 105 A.2d 64 (Pa. 1954) ................................................................................... 5, 31 Appeal of Norwood, 116 A.2d 552 (Pa. 1955) ............................................................................... 27, 32 Appeal of Stanton, 452 A.2d 496 (Pa. 1982) ..................................................................................... 27 Applewhite v. Commonwealth, No. 330 M.D. 2012, 2014 WL 184988 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Jan. 17, 2014) .......... 22 Banfield v. Cortes, 110 A.3d 155 (Pa. 2015) ..................................................................................... 23 Commonwealth v. Castro, 766 A.2d 1283 (Pa. Super. 2001) ....................................................................... 30 Commonwealth v. Emerick, 96 A.2d 370 (Pa. 1953) ....................................................................................... 26 Fallen v. United States, 378 U.S. 139 (1964) ............................................................................................ 30 In re Luzerne County Return Board, 290 A.2d 108 (Pa. 1972) ............................................................................... 25, 26 League of Women Voters v. Commonwealth, 178 A.3d 737 (Pa. 2018) ..............................................................................passim MERSCORP, Inc. v. Delaware County, 207 A.3d 855 (Pa. 2019) ..................................................................................... 25 Norwood Election Contest Case, 116 A.2d 552 (Pa. 1955) ..................................................................................... 22 Smith v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole, 683 A.2d 278 (Pa. 1996) ..................................................................................... 30 iii Winston v. Moore, 91 A. 520 (Pa. 1914) ........................................................................................... 24 Wolf v. Scarnati, No. 104 MM 2020, 2020 WL 3567269 (Pa. July 1, 2020) ................................. 23 Docketed Cases Crossey v. Boockvar, No. 108 MM 2020 (Pa.) ........................................................ 28 Trump Campaign v. Boockvar, No. 20-cv-966 (W.D. Pa.) .................................... 24 Statutes, Codes & Regulations 25 P.S. § 2641(a) ....................................................................................................... 19, 20 § 2641(b) ....................................................................................................... 19, 20 § 2645(b) ......................................................................................................... 4, 20 § 3050(a.4)(5)(ii)(C) ........................................................................................... 27 § 3146.2 ............................................................................................................... 11 § 3146.6 ............................................................................................................... 12 § 3146.6(a) .................................................................................................... 19, 25 § 3146.8(g)(1)(ii) .......................................................................................... 12, 29 § 3150.12 ............................................................................................................. 11 § 3150.12a(a) ...................................................................................................... 16 § 3150.16 ....................................................................................................... 12, 19 § 3150.16(a) ........................................................................................................ 25 § 3511 .................................................................................................................. 29 § 3535 .................................................................................................................. 16 52 U.S.C. § 10307 ................................................................................................................ 16 § 20511 ................................................................................................................ 16 Other Authorities 2020 Primary Election Mail Ballot Requests Department of State, OPEN DATA PENN., https://data.pa.gov/Government-Efficiency- Citizen-Engagement/2020-Primary-Election-Mail-Ballot-Requests- Departm/853w-ecfz/data (last visited Sept. 5, 2020) ......................................... 18 iv Charles Stewart, 2016 Survey of the Performance of American Elections, HARVARD DATAVERSE (2017), https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/ DVN/Y38VIQ ..................................................................................................... 13 Corbin Carson, Election Fraud in America (Aug. 12. 2012), https://votingrights.news21.com/interactive/election-fraud-database ................ 15 Coronavirus (COVID-19), PENN. DEP’T HEALTH (Sept 4, 2020), https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Coron avirus.aspx; ........................................................................................................... 6 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), People Who Are at Increased Risk for Severe Illness, CTRS. FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION (updated June 25, 2020), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra- precautions/people-at-increased-risk.html ............................................................ 6 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), How to Protect Yourself & Others, CTRS. FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting- sick/prevention.html (updated July 31, 2020) ...................................................... 9 COVID-19 Data for Pennsylvania, PENN. DEP’T HEALTH (July 15, 2020), https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Cases.aspx ........... 6 COVID-19 Data for Pennsylvania, PENN. DEP’T HEALTH (Sept. 4, 2020), https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Cases.aspx ........... 6 David Smiley & Bianca Padró Ocasio, Florida Held Its Primary Despite Coronavirus. Two Broward Poll Workers Tested Positive, MIAMI HERALD (Mar. 26, 2020) ........................................................................... 7 Diana Cao, Angelo Dagonel, & Pia Deshpande, Pennsylvania Election Analysis, STANFORD MIT HEALTHY ELECTIONS PROJECT (Aug. 20, 2020), https://healthyelections.org/sites/default/files/2020-