A federal court in Pennsylvania ruled on Tuesday against a lawsuit filed by several Republican members of Congress who aimed to set aside overseas ballots for additional scrutiny before the pivotal Nov. 5 election.

Issuing a court order at such a late stage would disrupt Pennsylvania’s election procedures and negatively affect a significant number of voters, along with state and county officials who would have to adopt these new measures on top of their existing responsibilities, Conner expressed.

This legal move was part of a series of lawsuits targeting state election protocols as Election Day approaches. Similar last-minute rule changes have been prevented in Georgia as well.

The Republican lawmakers requested that Pennsylvania county election officials ensure absentee ballot applications met all the required qualifications by reviewing the application or any alternate sources. According to Conner, they argued that overseas ballot applications were exempt from certain federal verification standards.

Democrats opposing the lawsuit argued that the Republicans were aiming to disenfranchise “tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians in the military or living abroad” without proving any instances of invalid ballots being submitted.

The last-minute nature of the challenge by the plaintiffs cannot be blamed on the established laws and guidelines, which have been in effect for almost twelve years, the Democrats argued in their motion to dismiss.

Pennsylvania Secretary Al Schmidt, a Republican, also called for the dismissal of the case.

The plaintiffs did not provide any justification for bringing this lawsuit at such a late stage, especially since voting for the 2024 General Election had already begun and over 25,000 overseas ballots had been sent out, as noted in Schmidt’s brief supporting the dismissal.

The lawsuit was initiated by five Republican U.S. House members representing Pennsylvania districts – Guy Reschenthaler, Dan Meuser, Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, Lloyd Smucker, and Mike Kelly – with Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry later joining as a plaintiff.

Attorneys for the congressmen and Secretary Schmidt did not respond immediately to requests for comments.