PA Supreme Court Upholds Postponement of Marsy’s Law Vote Tally

HARRISBURG - The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania today upheld a lower court’s ruling that postpones the tabulation and certification of the vote on the Marsy’s Law ballot question. Last week, the Commonwealth Court issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily delayed finalizing the vote until a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and Lorraine Haw is completed.

The League and Ms. Haw are represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the law firm Dechert LLP. In their lawsuit, they argue that the proposed constitutional amendment is in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution because it impacts multiple sections of the constitution, which is prohibited.

The following can be attributed to Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania:

“This is a win for voters in Pennsylvania. The General Assembly gave voters an overwhelming ballot question and forced them to vote up or down on the entire package. There may be provisions of Marsy’s Law that a voter likes and provisions they don’t like, but they have no opportunity to vote individually on each piece. The legislature forced them into an unfair, take-it-or-leave-it choice.

“Tallying the vote has been postponed, not blocked. Our lawsuit will go on, so voters should go out tomorrow and vote ‘no’ on Marsy’s Law because we believe the law is flawed both procedurally and on the merits.”

The following can be attributed to Steven Bizar, partner at Dechert LLP:

“We are grateful that the court understood the immediate and irreparable harm that could occur if the vote on the ballot question were to be tabulated and certified. This lawsuit has always been about a fair and open election. That’s what we’re asking for and that’s what the law demands.”

More information about the lawsuit is available at aclupa.org/ML-lawsuit. And information about the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s position on Marsy’s Law is available at aclupa.org/MarsysLaw.