Category Archives: absentee ballots

New Hail Mary Lawsuit Seeks to Disenfranchise 100,000 Texas Voters; Why It Shouldn’t Succeed

October 31, 2020, 2:18 pmabsentee ballots, chicaneryRick Hasen

Mark Stern flagged this new lawsuit filed in federal court which seeks to throw out over 100,000 ballots cast by Harris County, Texas voters who voted using drive-thru voting in Texas. There was an earlier lawsuit in state court seeking… Continue reading

“Minnesota Democrats ramp up push for absentee ballot turnout”

October 30, 2020, 5:33 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

AP: Simon added that the state will not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, though there might be cause for litigation later. He noted that while there is currently no court order that invalidates ballots arriving after Nov. 3, his… Continue reading

“Swing-state voters face major mail delays in returning ballots on time, USPS data shows”

October 30, 2020, 11:49 amabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

WaPo: Over the past five days, the on-time rate for ballots in 17 postal districts representing 10 battleground states and 151 electoral votes was 89.1 percent — 5.9 percentage points lower than the national average. By that measure, more… Continue reading

In Outrageous 2-1 Decision Ignoring Reliance Interests and Rejecting the Purcell Principle, 8th Circuit Panel Orders Segregation of Late Arriving Ballots in Minnesota, With Strong Hints Late Arriving Ballots Will Be Excluded from The Count

October 29, 2020, 4:03 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

It is hard to know where to start with this opinion. The majority suggests that a consent decree extending the deadline for absentee ballots in Minnesota, entered into by the Secretary of State and plaintiffs and approved by a… Continue reading

Pennsylvania Will Segregate Ballots Received After Election Day with SCOTUS Case Pending: Why This Was a Smart Move by the State, and Why This Doesn’t Solve the Reliance Problem or Standing Issue

October 28, 2020, 11:48 amabsentee ballots, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

As ELB readers well know, the Pennsylvania GOP has gone back to the Supreme Court seeking to reverse a state supreme court order which extended the deadline for receipt of absentee ballots from 8 pm on Election day until 5… Continue reading

“Judge orders USPS to reverse mail collection limits now”

October 28, 2020, 7:37 amabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

Politico: A federal judge on Tuesday night ordered the U.S. Postal Service to reverse limitations on mail collection imposed by Trump-backed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, giving the agency until Wednesday morning to inform workers of the court’s changes as more … Continue reading

“ACLU, Detroit City Clerk agreement to ease backlog of absentee ballot applications”

October 27, 2020, 6:29 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

Detroit News reports.

“When Voting by Mail Switches to Voting in Person”

October 27, 2020, 5:19 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

Brennan Center resource about what happens when a voter requests a mail ballot and then decides to vote in person, maybe because the mail ballot never arrived, maybe for other reasons. The piece covers the precautions election officials should take… Continue reading

Federal Court Issues Injunction over Signature Mismatches in South Carolina

October 27, 2020, 5:16 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

Release: South Carolina election officials must count absentee ballots that election officials had been planning on rejecting due to an alleged mismatched signature, ensuring voters will not be disenfranchised for this reason in the upcoming November election, a South… Continue reading

“Mail Voting Litigation During the Coronavirus Pandemic”

October 27, 2020, 5:14 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

Helpful new report from the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections project.

“In search of 362,236 ballots, Democrats plan an all-out scavenger hunt in Wisconsin”

October 27, 2020, 9:37 amabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

NYT: They’re well-organized, they’re well-funded, and they have a message: Return your absentee ballot, but don’t use the mail.The Wisconsin Democratic Party and its supporters had been on a mail-voting education crusade since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March,… Continue reading

Breaking and Analysis: Supreme Court, on 5-3 Party Line Vote, Won’t Restore Wisconsin Ballot Deadline Extension; Justices Fight in Footnotes over Pennsylvania State Court Issue

October 26, 2020, 5:04 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

On a 5-3 party line vote, the Supreme Court rejected Democrats’ and voting rights groups attempts to reverse the 7th Circuit putting the brakes on a district court order that would have extended the deadline for receipt of absentee ballots… Continue reading