Don’t
ya
just
hate
it
when this
happens?
Plaintiffs
delayed
too
long
to
file
their
action,
they
lack
standing,
they
have
failed
to
join
indispensable
parties,
and
they
have
failed
to
articulate
a
viable
cause
of
action.
Hence,
we
will
grant
the
Secretary’s
motion
to
dismiss
plaintiffs’
amended
complaint
without
further
leave
to
amend,
and
we
will
deny
as
moot
plaintiffs’
motion
for
temporary
restraining
order
and
preliminary
injunction.
An
appropriate
order
shall
issue.
Thus
endeth
the
preposterous
challenge
to
overseas
and
military
ballots
filed
September
30
by
six
Republican
congressmen
in
Pennsylvania,
flicked
away
like
a
stray
piece
of
lint
adhering
to
US
District
Judge
Christopher
Conner’s
robes.
The
effort
to
block
counting
military
and
overseas
ballots,
filed
after
25,000
of
them
have
been
sent
out
by
the
Pennsylvania
Secretary
of
Commonwealth,
runs
aground,
felled
by
the
doctrine
of
laches,
the Purcell
principle,
and
half
the
Federal
Rules
of
Civil
Procedure.
The
plaintiffs’
argument
was,
as
they
say,
hard
to
characterize.
Their
theory
seems
to
have
been
that
Pennsylvania’s
Republican
Secretary
of
the
Commonwealth
Al
Schmidt
and
his
Deputy
Secretary
for
Elections
Johnathan
Marks
broke
the
law
when
they
“issued
directives
and
guidance
to
county
officials
to
exempt
[overseas
and
military
voting]
applicants
entirely
from
any
verification
requirements.”
Which
would
make
complete
sense,
except
that:
-
The
challenged
directive
was
issued
upwards
of
two
years
ago; -
Generalized
whining
that
the
law
hasn’t
been
followed
does
not
constitute
standing
to
challenge
state
action; -
Ditto
for
claims
of
“vote
dilution”; -
Defendants
Schmidt
and
Marks
lack
the
authority
to
order
the
67
county
election
boards
to
take
the
action
requested,
a
fact
the
defendants
were
made
aware
of
before
they
amended
their
complaint
and
failed
to
add
the
responsible
parties
as
defendants; -
The
amended
complaint
seeks
a
declaratory
order
based
on
the
Supremacy
Clause,
which
contains
no
private
right
of
action;
and -
The
Uniformed
and
Overseas
Citizens
Absentee
Voting
Act
[UOCAVA]
expressly
instructs
states
to
accept
registration
applications
from
overseas
voters
with
a
simple
attestation
of
citizenship
and
no
other
documentation.
But
other
than
than, bang
up
job,
boys!
If
anything,
the
dismissal
order
understates
how
nuts
this
complaint
was.
Reps.
Reschenthaler,
Kelly,
Meuser,
Perry,
Thompson,
and
Smucker
tried
to
read
a
federal
law
that
explicitly
says
that
the
Federal
Post
Card
Application
“shall”
serve
as
“simultaneous
voter
registration
application
and
absentee
ballot
application”
as
permitting
the
state
to
impose
additional
requirements
upon
registrants
…
and
their
argument
somehow
rested
on
federal
preemption???
On
the
other
hand,
the
plaintiffs
can
now
point
to
the
ruling
as
further
evidence
of
a
Deep
State
plot
to
enable
large
scale
voting
by
non-citizens,
aided
by
a
feckless
judiciary,
and
which
will
be
directly
responsible
for
any
and
all
Republican
losses
next
week.
And
if
that
was
the
goal,
it’s
a
winner!
Reschenthaler
v.
Schmidt
[Docket
via
Court
Listener]
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.