Pa. Supreme Court rejects Cornel West's ballot bid, clears way for mail voting

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that rejected a bid to get independent presidential candidate Cornel West on the ballot for the November election in the battleground state.

The courts sided with the secretary of state’s office under Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in rejecting West’s candidacy paperwork. The decision also sets in motion the process for counties to start printing, testing and sending out mail-in ballots to voters who requested one ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Within hours of the court’s decision, Secretary of State Al Schmidt certified the ballot for counties.

“Counties can now prepare their ballots to be printed, then begin sending mail ballots to voters who have requested one as soon as they are printed,” Schmidt said in a statement.

The court case had been among a raft of partisan legal maneuvering around third-party candidates, as backers of Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris had aimed to derail third-party candidates who might siphon away support — or to help others who might hurt their opponent.

In an unsigned one-page order, the state Supreme Court said it had affirmed the lower Commonwealth Court decision. In it, the court had agreed with Schmidt’s office that West’s campaign lacked the required affidavits for 14 of West’s 19 presidential electors.

The deadline to submit them was Aug. 1.

Now, Trump and Harris will appear on Pennsylvania’s ballot with the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the Libertarian Party’s Chase Oliver. Stein and Oliver submitted petitions to get on Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot without being challenged.

The Nov. 5 election is expected to be close in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes are tied with Illinois for fifth-most, and arguably are the most awarded by any battleground state.