Court Cases

The ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center, and ACLU’s Voting Rights Project have filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit over the federal government’s demand that Pennsylvania turn over its entire voter registration rolls, including with voters’ sensitive personal data such as drivers’ license numbers and partial social security numbers. The motion to intervene was filed on behalf of seven Pennsylvania voters, many of whom were the target of baseless mass challenges to their mail ballots during the 2024 election cycle that resulted from faulty data-matching techniques. The voters’ experiences have heightened their concerns about the privacy of their voting data. Other plaintiffs are two non-partisan, good government organizations dedicated to voter engagement: the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and Common Cause. If intervention is granted, the civil rights groups will seek to prevent the federal government from forcing Pennsylvania to turn over the entirety of its voter registration database and to protect sensitive data within the voter rolls.

On September 18, 2024, the Republican National Committee filed a petition with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking the court to use its "King's Bench" authority to stop counties from implementing "notice-and-cure" policies. Notice-and-cure refers to the practice of counties alerting mail voters that there are errors with their mail ballot return packets that could lead to their ballots being disqualified and directing the voters on how to correct their mistakes so that they can submit a ballot that will be counted. On September 20, 2024, the plaintiffs in Genser and Matis v. Butler County Board of Elections and Center for Coalfield Justice et al. v. Washington County Board of Elections filed a motion to intervene in the case. Represented by the ACLU of Pennsylvania, ACLU Voting Rights Project, Public Interest Law Center, and the law firm Dechert LLP, the intervenors argue that the RNC's position would adversely impact their cases and, consequently, thousands of voters. On October 5, 20204, the court declined to hear the RNC's case.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed an amicus brief on behalf of a number of criminal legal reform and voting rights advocacy organizations in a lawsuit brought by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner that challenges Act 40. Act 40 is a state law that allows the Pennsylvania Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor for any crime that occurs on Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). If enforced, Act 40 would disenfranchise the Philadelphia voters who overwhelmingly elected and re-elected DA Krasner in landslide elections in 2017 and 2021. Act 40 would usurp the authority that those voters entrusted in DA Krasner. The amicus brief alleges a violation of DA Krasner’s rights to equal protection under the Pennsylvania Constitution and a violation of the rights of Philadelphia voters who would effectively have their vote nullified by Act 40. The amicus brief asks the court to declare Act 40 unconstitutional.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas in York, PA over the York County Board of Elections’ refusal to allow nonpartisan observers to witness the official canvass of the vote during the 2023 election cycle. The lawsuit alleges that York County’s refusal to admit public observers during its canvass procedure is a violation of the Pennsylvania Election Code, which mandates public access to the canvassing of election results. In November of 2023, a longtime York resident arrived at the county’s official canvass of election returns to observe the proceedings. An official from the county’s election office refused to allow the resident to enter the room where the official canvass meeting was taking place, incorrectly stating that the resident needed a “watcher’s certificate.” Watcher certificates are provided under Pennsylvania election law so that political parties and representatives can observe vote count canvasses. Residents unaffiliated with a party or a candidate do not need a watcher’s certificate to observe the computation of results from each district that occurs during an official canvass. ACLU-PA attorneys sent a letter to York County election officials raising concerns about their refusal to allow the volunteer to witness the canvass. The county responded that its actions were within the bounds of the law and that in refusing entry to the election canvass, it was hoping to prevent a "free for all" that "could be catastrophic." The lawsuit asks the court to mandate that York County follow the law by conducting a public canvass of election returns during the 2024 primary and general elections and to allow the plaintiff and other members of the public to observe the canvass.