PENNSYLVANIA Suit seeks extension for overseas ballots

The Nov. 10 deadline was a compromise reached to settle a federal suit.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- The state Republican Party and the father of a soldier stationed in Ethiopia pressed their effort to extend the deadline for overseas ballots with a pair of filings in state courts Monday.
The latest round of legal maneuvering came on the same day a Commonwealth Court judge gave overseas voters until Nov. 10 to return absentee ballots for state races, matching the terms of a settlement reached Friday on deadlines for federal races.
President Judge James Gardner Colins said the extension applies as long as the votes are cast by 8 p.m. EST today, Election Day -- regardless of what time zone the voter is in. The federal settlement contained the same provision.
Seeking Dec. 7 deadline
A few hours after Colins' order was issued, the state GOP and Thomas L. Robison sued Gov. Ed Rendell and Secretary of State Pedro Cortes in the state Supreme Court, asking it to set a deadline of Dec. 7. Robison filed on behalf of his son, Tommy Robison, who is in the Army and serving at the American Embassy in Addis Ababa.
"Given the logistical problems of getting a ballot from places like Fallujah or Kandahar or Tora Bora back to Pennsylvania, the court should allow our armed forces to have the ballots counted as long as they are cast on or before Election Day and received on or before Dec. 7," according to the application for expedited extraordinary relief.
The Republican Party and Robison also asked Commonwealth Court for a preliminary injunction to order that all ballots be counted as long as they are received by Dec. 2.
Josh Wilson, the Republican State Committee's political director, said the Dec. 2 date was chosen because it is 30 days after the election, but later legal research determined Dec. 7 would maximize the time before presidential electors are certified.
Compromise
The Nov. 10 deadline was a compromise reached Friday to settle a federal lawsuit filed against Rendell and Cortes by two Army soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait. That settlement applied only to federal elections, but Rendell also agreed to seek the Commonwealth Court order that he obtained Monday regarding state elections.
Some members of the military forces who are stationed overseas have reported problems receiving absentee ballots from their home counties in time to return them by last Friday -- which had been the deadline for state races and nonpresidential federal races. The deadline for absentee voting in the presidential race had been Election Day.
"We're pleased, because this will set an equal precedent for both the federal races and the state races, which we believe are equally important," Rendell press secretary Kate Philips said Monday.
The governor's office has arranged for express-mail shipments at state expense through DHL International Ltd. for those in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Philips said DHL shipments sent out by today's deadline should arrive in Pennsylvania before Nov. 10.