Supreme Court Won’t Hear Challenge to Biden’s Order on Voter

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Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers had challenged the order, which requires all federal agencies to help increase voter signups and mobilization.

The Supreme Court on Oct. 7 rejected a Republican challenge to President Joe Biden’s executive order that increased government involvement in the voter registration and voter mobilization process.

The justices denied the petition in Keefer v. Biden without comment. No justices dissented.

Presidential and congressional elections are scheduled for Nov. 5.

State lawmakers in Pennsylvania previously filed a petition to appeal an unfavorable ruling by a federal district court that is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Biden’s order calls upon all federal agencies, including the prison system, to help increase voter registration and participation and promote voting by mail.

Republican critics say Democrats are likely to benefit more than the Republican Party will. The lead petitioner is Pennsylvania state Rep. Dawn Keefer, a Republican.

In the case, 27 Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania are disputing Biden’s Executive Order 14019 of March 7, 2021, which requires all federal agencies to help increase voter registration and participation.

Every federal agency was required to submit a plan for voter registration and participation to Susan Rice, the president’s domestic policy adviser.

The Keystone State lawmakers were arguing that the order was unconstitutional and that voter registration drives aren’t a legitimate function of government. They are also challenging an executive order issued by former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, regarding voter registration.

The lawmakers argued in their lawsuit that the executive actions violated their rights under the U.S. Constitution by usurping their power to prescribe the time, place, and manner of holding elections.

Judge Jennifer Wilson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed the lawsuit on March 26.

“[The individual state lawmakers] did not have standing to bring a challenge to an action that allegedly injured the legislature as a whole,” the judge wrote. “[They] alleged only an institutional injury resulting from ‘a general loss of legislative power.’

“A vague, generalized allegation that elections, generally, will be undermined, is not the type of case or controversy that this court may rule on under Article III [of the U.S. Constitution].”

The lawmakers told the Supreme Court they wanted expedited consideration of the standing issue, so if they prevail, “they can obtain a preliminary injunction in the district court well before the November 2024 election.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.