Democrats in Pennsylvania, North Carolina claim key wins at Supreme Court ahead of election
Source: Washington Post
Democrats won two major victories involving voting deadlines in key battleground states Wednesday at the Supreme Court, as the justices will allow extended periods for receiving mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. They declined to disturb decisions that allow Pennsylvania officials to receive ballots cast by Election Day and received within three days, while the grace period set by the elections board in North Carolina is nine days.
In both of the cases, Republican Party and GOP legislators had opposed the extensions, and President Trump has railed on the campaign trail about the mail-in vote. Three conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch objected in both cases. The justices in the majority did not explain their votes, which is common in emergency petitions before the court.
New Justice Amy Coney Barrett decided not to participate in either vote. Her decisions did not signal a blanket recusal in election cases, as Democratic senators tried to get her to pledge during her confirmation process. Instead, the court said the cases at isssue needed prompt decisions and Barrett did not have time to fully review the legal arguments.
The decision in Pennsylvania, a state that proved vital to Trumps election four years ago and is key to his reelection, might not be settled. The three conservative justices signaled that they might want to revisit the issue there after the election, and even indicated the votes ultimately might not be counted.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-pennsylvania-mail-ballots/2020/10/28/fe78439a-1936-11eb-82db-60b15c874105_story.html
Last updated version -
Breaking: Democrats in Pennsylvania, North Carolina claim key wins ahead of next week's election
Democrats won two major victories involving voting deadlines in key battleground states Wednesday at the Supreme Court, as the justices will allow extended periods for receiving mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
The justices declined to disturb decisions that allow Pennsylvania officials to receive ballots cast by Election Day and received within three days, while the grace period set by the elections board in North Carolina is nine days.
Three conservative justices -- Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch -- objected in both cases. The justices in the majority did not explain their votes, which is common in emergency petitions before the court.
And in both, new Justice Amy Coney Barrett decided not to participate. Her decisions did not signal a blanket recusal in election cases, as Democratic senators tried to get her to pledge during her confirmation. Instead, the court said the cases at isssue needed prompt decisions, and Barrett did not have time to familiarize herself with the arguments.
This is a devleoping (sic) story and will be updated.
(story still being updated)
Original article and headline -
Breaking: Supreme Court allows North Carolina to extend deadline for receiving mail-in ballots, a defeat for GOP in key battleground
The state elections board, citing concerns about the U.S. Postal Service's ability to process an anticipated surge in ballots, has sought to extend by up to nine days its deadline for counting ballots. A divided federal appeals court had upheld the decision.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Thekaspervote
(32,767 posts)But clearly stated if ballots that arrived late changed the outcome of the election...changed the winner, the ruling will be revisited. Pretty sure NC will be the same
Orrex
(63,210 posts)"Count the ballots, but they don't count unless they count," is how it comes across.
DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)take the case.
madaboutharry
(40,211 posts)Are there battle lines being drawn among the justices? I have the feeling something is going on over there. Especially with Roberts, who seems to be having an identity crisis. He is all over the place.
bucolic_frolic
(43,161 posts)Trump is roiling the whole election apparatus of 50 states to suit his re-election agenda. Why are we putting up with this? They'll litigate the results on election day, then on counting all the mail-in ballots, then the results, then the electors, then the state legislatures, then the process in Congress to tally electors, then the quasi-militia will have their whack at it if they haven't already ... this is what we've come to?
I think Governors need to step up. The SC has not historically shown a lot of interest in regulating state election law.
sanatanadharma
(3,706 posts)The framing, the spin, the choice of words reflect the important value.
All voters matter. No voter loses. Every vote counts. Count the votes!
groundloop
(11,519 posts)As always GOPers need to suppress the vote to maintain power, and they're pulling out all the stops this year.
C Moon
(12,213 posts)And there are more Citizens United coups planned with billionaires using our new conservative SCOTUS.
Why do you think Moscow Mitch was so focused on appointing the last two justices?the last being the most ridiculous thing that has ever happened in our country. The GOP knows they are going to lose November 3rd, but they have bigger plans to cement other agendas with this new SCOTUS.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(107,985 posts)(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected another bid by North Carolina Republicans to block the extension of a deadline for receiving mail-in ballots for next Tuesday's election.
In a brief order, the justices denied a request by Republican lawmakers in the state to put on hold an agreement made by state election officials allowing the extension that a North Carolina state court had approved. The justices on Wednesday rebuffed a separate bid by President Donald Trump's re-election campaign to block the deadline extension through federal courts.
Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have granted the Republican request to block the ballot deadline extension. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who joined the court on Tuesday as Trump's third appointee, did not participate in the case. Barrett did not have time to fully review the case filings, a court spokeswoman said in a statement.
The state election board, citing potential U.S. Postal Service mail delivery delays, had opted to allow absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrived up to nine days later.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/us-supreme-court-again-rejects-north-carolina-republicans-in-absentee-ballot-dispute/ar-BB1awhUT?li=BBnb7Kz