Preliminary polls: Supreme Court move in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, possible post-election court battle over mail-in ballot

The court refused to challenge Pennsylvania Republicans in light of the state’s mail-in ballot deadline – now – the state Supreme Court has ruled that voting can be received for up to three days after the election, even with no legible postmark. Later, the court allowed the counting of votes in North Carolina, up to nine days before the election, until they are postmarked by election day.

Electoral law experts participating in the election are warning that the courts are unlikely to play a significant role in the election results. And the mail-in ballot received after election day will be a small percentage of the total ballots.

But if the election is imminent – and if Pennsylvania, for example, is the decisive state and the ballots received after November 3 may make a difference – the legal issues surrounding the mail-in ballot that arrived after election day could suddenly come to the fore. The presidential race, where Republicans want to toss ballots won after Nov. 3, and Democrats have argued to include them.

Pennsylvania officials notified the Supreme Court Wednesday that the state had issued guidelines to the county board for “safely separated” voting after election day, allowing them to be identified in future legal proceedings.

And in Minnesota, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State for segregating mail-in ballots received late Wednesday, while Republicans are appealing the federal court’s decision to allow them seven days to arrive late for voting. Postmarked by Election Day.

The deadline to receive a mail-in ballot varies by state. In 28 states, ballots must be received on election day, but in 22 states and the District of Columbia, they need to be postmarked by election day but may come later.

President Donald Trump has wrongly argued that the election results should be in November, while some key states, including Pennsylvania, have said it would take them more than a night to count a large increase in absentee ballots. The results reported on election night are always unofficial and later certified by the states.

But given the Supreme Court’s Wisconsin ruling, the Federal Appeals Court’s decision requiring voters to receive ballots by election day seemed to be in line with Judge Brett Kavanagh’s thinking.

The states have set a mail-in deadline on election day “to avoid suspicions of chaos and inaccuracy if thousands of absent ballots arrive just after election day and the election results are flipped,” Kavanaugh wrote.

He added, “And those states also want to be able to announce the election results definitively on election night, or as soon as possible thereafter.”

In a Pennsylvania decision Wednesday, the court refused to prosecute and hear a case so close to the election, with some of the court’s most-judged judges hinting at a Pennsylvania state court’s decision to extend the mail-in deadline. In a statement accompanying the order, joined by Justices Samuel Ito Lito, Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, he wrote that the court could not take a step closer to the election but added that the state’s Supreme Court decision was likely to violate the federal law. Constitution. ”

No other justice has commented, though the order indicates that more opinions may be forthcoming. The court said the court’s new justice, Amy Connie Barrett, did not vote because of the need for an immediate resolution in the cases in Pennsylvania or North Carolina, the court said.

Danger of interference in foreign elections

Senate Marco Rubio, chairman of the acting Senate Intelligence Committee, issued a stern warning Wednesday: now is the time to be most vigilant about interfering in foreign elections.

The Florida Republican tweeted, “Most of the disarmament information created by our opponents was created for the days before the attacks and for the days after the election.” They can come on the spot and faster than called, so the word for the wise will exclude the claim. , As much as there is foreign influence. “

Emails were sent to voters in Florida, and members of the Florida congressional delegation are receiving a briefing this week from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about attempts to interfere.