The Supreme Court is unlikely to take up any post-election challenges this year, preferring to not be a deciding factor in what is expected will be another close race, The Washington Times reported on Wednesday.
In 2000, the country endured the contentious Bush v. Gore dispute where images of Florida poll workers counting hanging chads defined the election.
The justices ultimately ruled in favor of former President George W. Bush to halt the recount requested by then Vice President Al Gore. Then 20 years later, post-election lawsuits on behalf of former President Donald Trump were filed in multiple jurisdictions, but none made their way up to the nation's highest court.
Legal experts told the outlet that short of an incredibly close race, the justices would prefer not to get involved. Derek T. Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame told the outlet, "They'll do everything they can to avoid resolving disputes after the election."
"Their hand might be forced if it comes down to one very closely contested state. But my assumption is that they will prefer the political process to play out and avoid as much as possible weighing in," Muller added.
This year, the high court has already weighed in on pre-election challenges.
On Wednesday the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in allowing Virginia to purge close to 1,600 purported non-citizens from the state's voter rolls. Earlier on Tuesday, the RNC filed an emergency stay application with the high court after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court voted to allow provisional ballots for those who had improperly cast mail-in ballots in the state.
Also on Wednesday, Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger ruled in favor of the Trump campaign by extending Bucks County, Pennsylvania's, early voting deadline until Friday. With many election experts seeing Pennsylvania as the path to the White House, the two cases could be critical in claiming the state's 19 electoral votes.
"The Pennsylvania case could matter if the election is Bush v. Gore-type close," Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA said to the Times via email. "Beyond that, I don't see these as major cases on the shadow docket no matter how they come out [and are] unlikely to determine the outcome of the 2024 elections."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.