Appeals to 2024 election cases in Pennsylvania will be expedited

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued the temporary order, which shortens the appeals window for 2024 election cases from ten days to three.

An order issued by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court this week will expedite the appeals process for any 2024 election cases in commonwealth courts.

The temporary order, which went into effect Thursday, shortens the window that parties have to appeal a court order or petition the state Supreme Court to review a lower court’s ruling from 10 business days to three days, including weekends and holidays.

Parties must also file briefs explaining their appeal to the court within 24 hours of notifying them that they will be appealing the case. Any objections to a party’s appeal must all be stated in merits briefs and cannot be submitted to the court in separate motions.

The court said that in election law cases regarding the 2024 election, parties are prohibited from asking judges to reconsider their decision, or from seeking a full court to hear arguments that were previously made in front of a judge panel.

These new rules will remain in place until the court orders them to be changed.

The court said the new guidelines are based on the Electoral Reform Act of 2022, which states that the appeals process in federal cases regarding election certification must be expedited.