The Resolution of Election Disputes: Legal Principles that Control Election Challenges The supreme court thought that Ms. Laughlin’s argument had some merit but chose, instead, to look further at common law. It said, Rather than imposing a new twenty-day limit on the petitioner, this Court has evaluated the timing of nunc pro tunc petitions by considering whether the petitioner is guilty of laches…For laches to apply, there must be a lack of due diligence in pursuing a cause of action and resulting prejudice to the other party. A petitioner generally cannot delay contesting an election while recounts are being completed… However, we are hesitant to deny a petitioner the right to contest an election where an initial problem with the election is raised by his opponent after the time to contest has expired. Here, although Zupsic arguably had reason to file his Petition to Contest earlier than January 10, no evidence exists to indicate that Laughlin was prejudiced by any delay. 670 A.2d at 636 (emphasis supplied). In other words, the supreme court found that there was no evidence that Ms. Laughlin was injured by the timing of Mr. Zupsic’s election challenge filing. Thus, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that Mr. Zupsic’s election challenge was not barred by the fact that it was filed nearly 50 days after the statutory 20-day period expired. A similar result was reached when a Louisiana court found that Andy Valence, the incumbent mayor of Grand Isle, Louisiana, could proceed with a trial on the merits to contest his 17-vote loss to Robert Rosiere in Valence v. Rosiere, 675 So.2d 1138 (La. Ct. App. 1996). The case involving Mr. Valence, like many cases of election challenges in the United States, focused on the treatment accorded absentee ballots. Although it has become common to classify as “absentee ballots” all ballots that are cast before election day and/or cast outside of the election-day polling places, the term “absentee ballots” as used in this book refers to ballots that are: • cast by mail • by qualified voters • who are unable to get to their polling place on election day. State law defines: • who is authorized to obtain an absentee ballot, • to whom absentee ballots must be mailed, and • when the absentee ballots must be received in order to be counted. States include in this category people who are in the military13 ; people who are infirm; people who will be out of their city, county or state on election day; and so on. The process of getting an absentee ballot also is a matter of state procedure. Usually a voter can apply for an absentee ballot by mail, receive the ballot by mail and return the ballot to the election office by mail. Absentee ballot designs also vary by state, but generally come back to the election office in two envelopes: an exterior return envelope that has the voter’s name and other required information on it, and an interior envelope containing the actual ballot (and without information identifying the voter to preserve the secrecy of the voter’s ballot). Once the election 13 Military people, their dependents and United States citizens who are overseas are entitled to register to vote and to vote absentee by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973ff to -6, a federal law. 12