Supreme Court backs Pennsylvania ballot extension

Pennsylvania can count mailed-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day, the Supreme Court ruled late on Monday. The justices split 4-4 on the Republican motion to block the September ruling from the state’s top court, which ordered officials to accept ballots as long as voters did not mail them after polls closed. Some 18 states have also set a post-Election Day deadline.

Why do Republicans oppose the extension? Republicans argued it violates a federal law that sets elections for a single day and said the decision to alter it constitutionally rests with lawmakers and not the courts. Nancy Patton Mills, chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, welcomed the ruling as a “significant victory” for voters. But Lawrence Tabas, the state Republican Party chairman, said the decision “underscores the importance of having a full Supreme Court as soon as possible.”

Dig deeper: Read Kyle Ziemnick’s analysis in The Stew of the battle over the U.S. Postal Service and mail-in balloting.