The move positions Nevada to be a major battlefield in court fighting over vote by mail.
In its submission on Monday – six days after the Trump campaign was first indicted – Nevada lawyers told a judge that the debate over voting by mail should not be decided in court.
“The search for the right balance between voter access and considerations for election integrity is a matter for policymakers and lawmakers, not for federal courts,” Nevada attorneys argued.
Trump’s team is asking the court to “monitor the science of policy choices made by the Nevada Legislature” during its 2020 session, as it prepares for the election amid a pandemic, the submission said.
Nevada also claimed that the Trump campaign used only hypothetical situations, meaning it has not yet been affected by the law.
Because the Trump campaign’s lawsuit “presents a policy debate, the debate should be conducted in a non-judicial forum, allowing the Secretary to use critical public resources to ensure a free and fair election in 2020, instead of of consumed by partisan disagreement, “Nevada attorneys wrote.
Earlier this month, lawmakers in Nevada adopted a plan in November to send votes to all registered voters. The Democratic-controlled legislature and Democratic governor approved the plan, which was protested by Republicans and soon met with a lawsuit from the Trump campaign.
The Trump campaign has argued in court against several aspects of the state’s post-vote voting plan: that the plan could allow post-election votes after election day, that the state disproportionately authorizes more polling stations for urban areas and that the counting of votes would be inconsistent. In short, the law in Nevada could incite voter fraud, the campaign claimed, in hopes of making it invalid.
All Nevadans who are active, registered voters will automatically receive general election ballots in the mail and will not have to request absentee ballots. The Democrats’ plan for November also includes more than 100 traditional polling stations that will be open to socially distant personal voting rights. Experts say it is critical to keep some polling stations open, even if voting by mail is expanded in a state.
“Given the fears surrounding the pandemic, these postal voting systems have great potential to demand widespread postal voting in the 2020 general election. However, President Donald J. Trump did not claim elected officials in the other states, Nevada attorneys argued in their submission Monday.
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