Hecker Fink and State Democracy Research Initiative File Amicus Brief in Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Black Political Empowerment Project v. Schmidt

On September 4, 2024, Hecker Fink LLP and the State Democracy Research Initiative filed an amicus brief on behalf of a group of legal scholars in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Black Political Empowerment Project v. Schmidt. The brief urges the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to affirm the decision below, concluding enforcement of Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot dating provisions violates the Pennsylvania Constitution’s guarantee of free and equal elections.

The brief supports Petitioners’ arguments that the ballot dating provisions, which require voters to date the outer envelope containing a mail-in ballot, serve no function in election administration and cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. Amici argue that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has long held that hurdles to electoral participation that serve no meaningful purpose violate the Pennsylvania Constitution’s textual and structural commitment to democracy. Enjoining the ballot dating provisions—which are irrelevant to a ballot’s timeliness but risk disenfranchising tens of thousands of voters—fits comfortably within the Court’s longstanding precedent. 

The brief, which can be read in full here reflects the firm’s commitment to protecting fundamental tenets of our democracy and the fairness of our electoral process. 

The Hecker Fink team includes Joshua Matz and Anna Collins Peterson. The State Democracy Research Initiative team includes Miriam Seifter, Adam Sopko, Bree Grossi Wilde, and Robert Yablon. Mary Catherine Roper of Langer Grogan & Diver PC served as local counsel.

Amici are: Jessica Bulman-Pozen, the Betts Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and a Director of the Law School’s Center for Constitutional Governance; Jerry Dickinson, Professor of Law at University of Pittsburgh School of Law; Miriam Seifter, Professor of Law at University of Wisconsin Law School and Faculty Co-Director of the State Democracy Research Initiative; Robert F. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus at Rutgers Law School and Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies; Robert Yablon, Associate Professor of Law at University of Wisconsin Law School and Faculty Co-Director of the State Democracy Research Initiative; and Quinn Yeargain,1855 Professor of the Law of Democracy and Associate Professor of Law at Michigan State University College of Law.