U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly and other Republicans are now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to do what the Pennsylvania Supreme Court wouldn't — rule Act 77, the state law allowing all residents to vote by mail-in ballot, unconstitutional.

Kelly, R-16th, Sean Parnell, a GOP candidate for the 17th District, and six other Republicans filed a writ of certiorari Friday asking the nation's highest court to hear their argument that Act 77 and its “no excuse needed” rule for residents to vote by mail.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Kelly and the other Republicans to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election. Democrat Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the presidential election.

“Despite media headlines, our lawsuit is still alive. Last night we filed a writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court asking them to hear our argument on the constitutionality of Act 77's mail-in voting scheme,” Kelly said in a statement released Saturday. “(The court) should agree with Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough, who stated we were likely to win on the merits of our case before the partisan Supreme Court of Pennsylvania tossed our suit on a technicality.“Even a remedy that includes prospective relief, meaning for future elections, would be a win for Pennsylvanians who were harmed when the voting laws were changed without amending the Pennsylvania Constitution, the supreme law of the Commonwealth that outlines explicitly who is eligible to vote by means other than in-person.”In its arguments, the writ asks the high court to consider two questions.One is, do the First and Fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution permit Pennsylvania to rely on the laches doctrine to bar all forms of equitable relief for substantive constitutional challenges to election laws?The laches doctrine is a principle that a legal right or claim will not be enforced or allowed if a long delay in asserting the right or claim has harmed the opponent in the suit. An example is a property owner failing to file a lawsuit to establish title to a portion of property until after a neighbor built a house on the property.The second question is, do the Elections and Electors Clauses of the United States Constitution permit Pennsylvania to violate its state constitution's restrictions on Pennsylvania's lawmaking power when enacting legislation for the conduct of federal elections?Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Bookvar are named as respondents in the suit.“I have no doubt President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021,” said Catherine Lalonde, chairwoman of the Butler County Democratic Committee in a news release Wednesday. “I would like to hear those words from our Butler County elected officials — at every level of government. Their denial of the election results sets a dangerous precedent and infects their followers with a distrust of the systems that this country was founded on.”Lalonde issued the statement following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Tuesday rejecting the Republican appeal to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election calling for a peaceful transfer of power. She also urged a stop to actions that might incite violent responses, noting nationally reported threats to poll workers and government officials.On Kelly's current filing with the Supreme Court on Act 77, signed by Wolf on Oct. 31, 2019, Lalonde noted Sunday that the election reform was passed with widespread support from Republicans in both chambers of the legislature.“I really want our representatives who are all Republican — including our three state senators as well — to come forward to defend their vote for Act 77,” Lalonde said.

Representative Mike Kelly