Here is the September 20, 2012 decision of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in the case over whether the Libertarian Party statewide petition is valid. The case name is In Re: Nomination Papers of Margaret K. Robertson for President, no. 507 MD 2012 (the case has that name because Margaret Robertson was the stand-in presidential candidate).

This decision was of course very helpful to the Libertarian Party in Pennsylvania, but it will be helpful in future petition drives all across the United States. The decision interprets federal law to mean that, at least in federal elections, states must accept signatures as valid if the signer had moved, and signed with the new address, but still hadn’t re-registered and is still listed on the voter registration rolls at the old address. The federal law is 42 U.S.C. 1973. That is part of the 1993 federal law nicknamed the “motor voter” law, but formally known as the National Voter Registration Act.

Unfortunately, the Commonwealth Court decision will apparently not be reported. It can still be cited as a precedent, and the information in the decision of course can still be used. However, if the decision were reported, it would be easier for attorneys in other, future lawsuits to refer to it. “Reported” means that the decision has been sent in to the private company that prints copies of important decisions in books that are found in law libraries. Pennsylvania state court decisions that are reported are found in the Atlantic Reporter.