Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Block Count of Some Pennsylvania Provisional Ballots

A blow to Trump campaign's hopes of overturning election results

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Republican request to block the counting of some provisional ballots in Pennsylvania, a setback to President Donald Trump's campaign's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The justices, in a brief order, denied an emergency application from the Trump campaign and its allies to intervene in a lower court ruling that had allowed the counting of the ballots.

The provisional ballots in question were cast by voters who registered to vote on Election Day but did not provide proof of identification. Under Pennsylvania law, these voters can cast provisional ballots, which are then counted if the voters provide proof of identification within six days.

The Trump campaign had argued that the counting of these ballots would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because it would allow voters who did not prove their identity to have their votes counted.

But the Supreme Court ruled that the lower court had not erred in allowing the counting of the ballots, noting that the state had a legitimate interest in ensuring that all eligible voters had their votes counted.

The decision is a blow to Trump's campaign, which has been trying to overturn the election results in several states, including Pennsylvania. The campaign has filed a number of lawsuits challenging the results, but most of them have been unsuccessful.

The Supreme Court's decision is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Trump campaign's efforts to overturn the election results. Last week, the court rejected a request from Texas to overturn the results in four swing states, and several other lawsuits have also been dismissed.

The Trump campaign has vowed to continue fighting to overturn the election results, but it is increasingly unlikely that it will be successful.