A Pennsylvania court declared on Friday that a law that established no-excuse mail voting violates the constitution.
Fourteen Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives–including 11 GOP lawmakers who actually voted for the law–sued last year, arguing that the law was unconstitutional.
The three Republicans on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court sided with the Republicans while the two Democrats dissented.
The Republican judges admitted that the law expanded access to voting but any changes to voting laws must be done through constitutional amendment, CBS News reports.
“No-excuse mail-in voting makes the exercise of the franchise more convenient and has been used four times in the history of Pennsylvania,” wrote Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt, a Republican. “Approximately 1.38 million voters have expressed their interest in voting by mail permanently. If presented to the people, a constitutional amendment…is likely to be adopted. But a constitutional amendment must be presented to the people and adopted into our fundamental law before legislation authorizing no-excuse mail-in voting can ‘be placed upon our statute books.'”
Nearly 2.6 million people voted under the law’s expansion of mail-in voting in 2020′s presidential election, most of them Democrats, out of 6.9 million total cast.
Trump quickly praised the decision, writing in a statement through his political action committee: “Big news out of Pennsylvania, great patriotic spirit is developing at a level that nobody thought possible. Make America Great Again!”
But, Trump and Republicans’ celebration may be short lived. Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, said in a statement the opinion will be immediately appealed and will not have any immediate impact on Pennsylvania’s upcoming elections, The Associated Press reports.
The state Supreme Court where the appeal will be filed has a 5-2 Democratic majority.
