I have to part ways with you here brother @roamer_1. The people of Pennsylvania have no legitimate beef they can take to SCOTUS because the state government of Pennsylvania answers to them; if their legislature did not step up, then they didn't step up and that's that. But the people of Texas have a legitimate right to expect that Pennsylvania, and every other state, will adhere to the US Constitution by leaving the electoral laws of PA solely in the hands of the PA Legislature. I continue to believe SCOTUS was wrong to deny certiorai to TX vs PA.
I understand your point, but that ain't the point at hand. The sole arbiter to determine what the legislature wants is the legislature themselves. They determine when what they want is violated, and no one else.
To wit:
@Hoodat says PA's election boards defied senate instructions. But there are special circumstances that would assume something different than normal had to be done. There is leeway built into the system - A county experiencing a flood may not be able to toe the line exactly as an instance, and a judge may declare something lawful that is out of the ordinary because of the flood... A precinct captain may have to fudge a bit and color outside the lines to move the most of the ballots out of danger while still leaving polls relatively open... Stuff like that happens. And it happens all the time. This is sausage making. It never goes as perfectly as the law demands. Who determines whether there has been an egregious failure, versus folks trying their best to work with what they have?
In my case, the county shut down in person voting, leaving only one physical location open. Likewise for registration. One place open very temporarily every day. There were lines for blocks... and most folks voted by mail. That was not normal. not by a long shot.
But I was disenfranchised. I don't have a mailbox, and since my mailbox is not at my place of residence, my mail did not match my place of residence. So my ballot was automatically disqualified. And in the clamor, there was literally nothing I could do except stand in line for blocks and maybe for days, on the chance that I would be able to get to the window and fix my registration and obtain a ballot... Something I cannot physically bear. Tough sh*t, there it is. Nobody came to my rescue either. No provision for my disenfranchisement, and no remedy...
No one is arguing that TX or any other state should be able to intervene into the will of the people of PA as expressed by their legislature. So long as the will of the PA legislature is primary we truly lack standing - for example we do not attempt to overturn CA procedures that create elections between 2 Ds and exclude Rs completely. The argument is that the people of PA are not the *only* people who have a stake in protecting the sole sovereignty of the PA State Legislature in determining PA's election laws.
Be careful what you wish for. If you open this can of worms, there is nothing to stop Dem states from filing frivolously to force conservative states to toe their own line. When nobody anywhere toes the line perfectly.
