Black Pol. Emp. v. Schmidt, A.

Opinion

[J-79-2024]

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA MIDDLE DISTRICT

BLACK POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT : No. 68 MAP 2024 PROJECT, POWER INTERFAITH, MAKE : THE ROAD PENNSYLVANIA, ONEPA : Appeal from the Order of the ACTIVISTS UNITED, NEW PA PROJECT : Commonwealth Court at No. 283 EDUCATION FUND, CASA SAN JOSÉ, : MD 2024 dated August 30, 2024. PITTSBURGH UNITED, LEAGUE OF : WOMEN VOTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA, : SUBMITTED: September 4, 2024 AND COMMON CAUSE PENNSYLVANIA :

: :

v. :

: :

AL SCHMIDT, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY : AS SECRETARY OF THE : COMMONWEALTH, PHILADELPHIA : COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS, AND : ALLEGHENY COUNTY BOARD OF : ELECTIONS :

: :

APPEAL OF: REPUBLICAN PARTY OF : PENNSYLVANIA AND REPUBLICAN : NATIONAL COMMITTEE :

ORDER

PER CURIAM AND NOW, this 13th day of September, 2024, the order of the Commonwealth

Court is VACATED. The Commonwealth Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to

review the matter given the failure to name the county boards of elections of all 67

counties, and because the joinder of Al Schmidt, in his official capacity as Secretary of

the Commonwealth, did not suffice to invoke the Commonwealth Court’s original

jurisdiction. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 761(a)(1); see also Penn. State Educ. of Ass’n ex rel.

Wilson v. Com., Dept. of Comm. and Econ. Dev., 50 A.3d 1263, 1277 (Pa. 2012) (“In

determining whether a party is indispensable, the basic inquiry remains ‘whether justice

can be done in the absence of a third party.’”); Sprague v. Casey, 550 A.2d 184, 189 (Pa.

1988) (“[U]nless all indispensable parties are made parties to an action, a court is

powerless to grant relief. . . . Thus, the absence of such a party goes absolutely to the

court’s jurisdiction.”) (citation omitted). The request for extraordinary jurisdiction pursuant

to 42 Pa.C.S. § 726 is DENIED.

Justice Wecht files a dissenting statement in which Chief Justice Todd and Justice

Donohue join.

[J-79-2024] - 2