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Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Veronica Degraffenreid, Acting Secretary of Pennsylvania, et al.

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Middle District, No. 149 MM 2020

Certiorari denied · February 22, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 8% cert probability (95% interval 4%–14%)

Before the decision, about 1.8× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a state or local-government respondent.

Question presented

Article II of the Constitution provides that “Each State shall appoint [electors for President and Vice President] in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.” U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 2 (emphasis added). That power is “plenary,” and the statutory provisions enacted by the legislature in the furtherance of that constitutionally-assigned duty may not be ignored by state election officials or changed by state courts. Bush v. Gore (“Bush II”), 531 U.S. 98, 104-05 (2000). Yet, during the 2020 presidential election, that is what the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did in four cases – three at issue in this Petition, and one already before the Court. Statutory requirements were eliminated regarding signature verification, the right of campaigns to challenge invalid mail ballots, mandates that mail voters fill in, date, and sign mail ballot declarations, and even the right of campaigns to observe the mail ballot canvassing process in a meaningful way. Collectively, these three decisions resulted in counting approximately 2.6 million mail ballots in violation of the law as enacted by the Pennsylvania Legislature. According to public reports, without these protections, the resulting disqualification rate of invalid ballots was anemic—meaning over 110,000 invalid ballots were illegally counted—more than enough to have affected the outcome of the election, where the margin between the two principal candidates for President currently stands at 80,558. The questions presented are therefore: 1. Whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s alteration or suspension of state

Counsel of record

For petitioner
John C. Eastman
Constitutional Counsel Group

For respondent
Joseph Matthias Cosgrove
Law Office

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Mar 26 2021
    Amicus brief of Todd C. Bank submitted.
  2. Mar 15 2021
    Amicus brief of Todd C. Bank not accepted for filing. (March 25, 2021)
  3. Feb 22 2021
    Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by Constitutional Attorneys GRANTED.
  4. Feb 22 2021
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Republican Party of Pennsylvania GRANTED.
  5. Feb 22 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  6. Feb 18 2021
    Amicus brief of Todd C. Bank not accepted for filing. (March 10, 2021)
  7. Feb 17 2021
    Amicus brief of Todd C. Bank not accepted for filing. (February 18, 2021)
  8. Jan 27 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/19/2021.
  9. Jan 27 2021
    Amicus brief of Todd C. Bank not accepted for filing. (February 17, 2021)
  10. Jan 22 2021
    Waiver of Susquehanna County Board of Elections of right to respond not accepted for filing. (January 26, 2021)
  11. Jan 22 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Susquehanna County Board of Elections to respond filed.
  12. Jan 21 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Allegheny County Board of Elections to respond filed.
  13. Jan 21 2021
    Waiver of right of respondents Various County Boards of Elections to respond filed.
  14. Jan 20 2021
    Waiver of right of respondents Bucks County Board of Elections; Chester County Board of Elections; Montgomery County Board of Elections; Philadelphia County Board of Elections; Omar Sabir; Al Schmidt; and Lisa Deeley to respond filed.
  15. Jan 19 2021
    Amicus brief of Todd C. Bank not accepted for filing. (January 26, 2021)
  16. Jan 15 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Luzerne County Board of Elections to respond filed.
  17. Jan 14 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Kathy Boockvar, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to respond filed.
  18. Jan 11 2021
    Motion to expedite consideration filed by petitioner DENIED.
  19. Jan 08 2021
    Amicus brief of Todd C. Bank not accepted for filing. (January 19, 2021)
  20. Jan 07 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Allegheny County Board of Elections to respond filed.
  21. Jan 06 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Crawford County Board of Elections to respond filed.
  22. Jan 04 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Delaware County Board of Elections to respond filed.
  23. Jan 04 2021
    Brief in support of motion of petitioner Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. filed.
  24. Dec 30 2020
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Republican Party of Pennsylvania.
  25. Dec 30 2020
    Response to motion for expedited consideration from respondent Kathy Boockvar, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania filed.
  26. Dec 28 2020
    Amicus brief of Todd C. Bank not accepted for filing. (January 07, 2021)
  27. Dec 23 2020
    Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by Constitutional Attorneys.
  28. Dec 21 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 22, 2021)
  29. Dec 21 2020
    Motion to expedite consideration of the petition for a writ of certiorari filed by petitioner.