Supreme Court Lets N.C., Pennsylvania Extend Post-Election Vote Counting
The two cases are the latest decided by the high court that could greatly impact the outcome of next week's elections, as many Americans struggle to vote safely during a pandemic.
The New York Times:
Supreme Court To Let PA, NC Accept Absentee Ballots After Election Day
In a pair of decisions welcomed by Democrats, the Supreme Court on Wednesday let election officials in two key battleground states, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, accept absentee ballots for several days after Election Day. In the Pennsylvania case, the court refused a plea from Republicans in the state that it decide before Election Day whether election officials can continue receiving absentee ballots for three days after Nov. 3. In the North Carolina case, the court let stand lower court rulings that allowed the state’s board of elections to extend the deadline to nine days after Election Day, up from the three days called for by the state legislature. (Liptak, 10/28)
NPR:
Supreme Court Allows Ballot Extensions In Pennsylvania, North Carolina, For Now
New Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in either case. Her decision was particularly noteworthy because her vote might or might not have affected the outcome and because a Pennsylvania county had earlier this week filed, and then withdrawn, a formal request for the new justice to recuse herself.
A highly unusual statement issued by the court press office said that Barrett did not participate because of the need for a "prompt resolution" of the question before the court, and because the new justice "had not had time to fully review" the written arguments submitted to the court. (Totenberg, 10/28)
AP:
Supreme Court Ruling Spurs Wisconsin To Get Early Votes In
Democrats and Republicans in the battleground state of Wisconsin were pushing Tuesday to get 320,000 outstanding absentee ballots returned by the close of polls on Election Day, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to extend the deadline to receive and count ballots as Democrats had wanted. (Bauer, 10/27)
In related news on mail-in voting and voter safety —
Texas Tribune:
Texas Voters Won't Be Required To Wear Masks While Voting, At Least For Now
A requirement that Texans wear face masks when casting ballots during the pandemic lasted less than a day after a federal appeals court halted an order that would have compelled voters to don the coverings. (McCullough, 10/28)
Stat:
A New Challenge For Public Health: Making Voting Safe Amid A Pandemic
In their efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus, public health departments are taking on a new responsibility: helping make voting as safe as possible. Normally, these agencies don’t get involved in election logistics, but now they’re collaborating with local elections officials to set up polling places and training poll workers and volunteers on what behaviors to encourage and what to caution against. After all, one of the key Covid-19 precautions we’ve been encouraged to take is to avoid crowds, particularly indoors. Voting can pose a challenge to that, and in turn, to the health of both voters and poll workers. (Joseph, 10/29)
KHN:
Despite COVID Concerns, Teams Venture Into Nursing Homes To Get Out The Vote
Each time Beverly Tucker visited a nursing home or long-term care facility this fall, she brought along a rolling tote bag packed with supplies from the Durham County Board of Elections. Boxes of face masks and face shields. Latex gloves and cleaning wipes. Hand sanitizer from Mystic Farm & Distillery, a local facility that was among the first to switch from producing liquor to hand sanitizer in the early days of the pandemic. And most important — even if they were dwarfed by the cleaning supplies — the absentee ballots and ballot request forms that Tucker would help residents complete in time for the election. (Pattani, 10/29)
The Washington Post:
Millions Of Mail Ballots Have Not Been Returned As Window Closes For Postal Service Delivery
Amid a record surge in early voting, millions of mail ballots remained unreturned Wednesday, prompting a flurry of warnings from election officials that ballots sent via the U.S. Postal Service at this point may not arrive in time to be counted. With Election Day less than a week away, more than 42 million out of the 92 million mail ballots requested by voters nationally had not yet been returned as of Wednesday afternoon, according to data from the U.S. Elections Project, a nonpartisan site tracking early voting. (Hawkins and Bogage, 10/28)
