Stickers are pictured during the primary election at the Orchard Hill Church in Butler. Butler Eagle File Photo

The Republican National Committee and Republican Party of Pennsylvania are asking the state Supreme Court to delay implementation of its Wednesday, Oct. 23, ruling that requires counties to count provisional ballots submitted by voters whose mail-in or absentee ballots were found to be defective.

The county Bureau of Elections and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party joined the Republican organizations in the application for relief that was filed Friday, Oct. 25.

The application asks Pennsylvania’s high court to stay Wednesday’s ruling until its pending application for a stay and petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court is resolved.

A writ of certiorari is a request for the U.S. Supreme Court to order a lower court to forward a case record for review.

Pennsylvania’s high court issued a ruling Wednesday in an appeal of a county case involving two county voters whose mail-in ballots for the April primary were rejected by the county elections bureau because they didn’t place their ballots in the provided secrecy envelopes. They then voted in person using provisional ballots, but those ballots were rejected by the computation return board.

The two voters appealed to Commonwealth Court, which ruled voters can cast provisional ballots if defects are found in their mail-in and absentee ballots.

The Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court, which issued a split decision in favor of the voters, Faith Genser, of Zelienople, and Frank Matis, of Center Township.

The application for relief argues that the state Supreme Court decision “creates a serious likelihood that Pennsylvania’s already commenced 2024 general election — in which millions of citizens are voting for president, Congress, and scores of state and local offices — will be tainted by the unlawful counting of provisional ballots cast by individuals whose mail-in ballots were timely received and invalid.”

By ordering that counties must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were submitted without the secrecy envelope, the ruling directly contravenes state law that says provisional ballots can’t be counted if voters submitted their mail-n ballots on time, according to the application.

Citing a statement the court made in another election case, the application says the court has made it clear that it “will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election.”

The county commissioners did not vote to have the board of elections join in the application for relief, but they were notified about the filing by the Republican National Committee, said Leslie Osche, chairman of the county commissioners.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party could not be reached for comment.