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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked for the new Michigan law allowing poll workers to start opening mailed ballots ahead of Election Day.
Partisan twists in four key states help keep ballot rules in limbo
Sep 25 2020
The end of a week that brought the country within 40 days of the election included a smorgasbord of legal developments underscoring how the rules governing the coming surge of mailed votes are far from finalized.
The Republican lieutenant governor asked the Justice Department to investigate North Carolina's brand new easements on absentee voting. A federal appeals court revived witness requirements on ballots mailed in South Carolina. Philadelphia's top election official asked Pennsylvania to scratch at the last minute a requirement for returning such ballots inside secrecy envelopes. And Michigan decided to give local clerks a small head start on processing absentee ballots.
The series of moves Thursday were the latest in the pitched partisan battle over mail-in voting. The first two reflect the Republican effort to make the rules tougher, while the other two reflect the Democratic view that those rules should be simpler.
These are the details:
<h3>North Carolina</h3><p>Lt. Gov. Dan Forest's appeal to Attorney General William Barr is the latest development in a controversy that's swirled since the state Board of Elections <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/voting/absentee-ballot-lawsuits" target="_self">signed off Tuesday</a> on the settlement of a lawsuit filed by progressive groups attempting to lessen the burden on voters.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The agreement, which still must be approved by a judge, would give voters in the swing state the chance to fix errors in absentee ballots that would otherwise cause them to be rejected. It also would allow mail ballots that were postmarked by Election Day to be counted as long as they arrive within nine days.</p><p>The next day, the two GOP members of the election board resigned, claiming they were deceived about the details of the settlement agreement, which had been endorsed by the board unanimously. The lieutenant governor's letter accuses the Democratic members of the panel, and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, of colluding to subvert the intent of the General Assembly and asks Barr to investigate whether any federal laws have been violated.</p><p>The battle for the state's 15 electoral votes and the outcome of a GOP-held Senate seat are too close to call.</p><h3>Pennsylvania</h3><p>The Democratic chairwoman of Philadelpia's election board warned in a letter to leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly that as many as 100,000 votes across the battleground state could be rejected in November. Lisa Deely cited a sweeping state Supreme Court <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/pa-vote-by-mail" target="_self">decision about election rules</a> from last week that requires absentee ballots to be placed in an internal secrecy envelope before going into the outer envelope used to return them.</p><p>Deely wrote that she fears voters will forget to use the internal envelope, leaving these so-called "naked ballots" to be rejected by election officials and disenfranchising enough voters to decide the presidential race. President Trump carried the state's 20 electoral votes last time by just 44,000 votes but former Vice President Joe Biden has been narrowly ahead in most recent polls.</p><p>Deely asked legislators to pass an emergency bill dropping the requirement, which is not likely to happen.</p><p>Nationwide, record numbers of absentee ballots are expected to be mailed in or dropped off, many by first-time voters unfamiliar with the system. About a third of the states mandate secrecy envelopes.</p><p>Election officials across the country are expressing worry that voters will not correctly follow the rules that apply in their own state. Thousands of ballots in the primary elections did not count because of missing signatures and other defects.</p><h3>South Carolina </h3><p>The vote was 2-1 at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/vote-by-mail-3296387" target="_self">a lower court ruling</a> against the state's witness requirement. Judge Michelle Childs had declared earlier in the week that the mandate violated citizens' right to vote and had little impact on preventing election fraud.</p><p>The appeals decision puts a hold on that ruling while the legal challenge to it is reviewed. That means a witness signature will likely be needed for voting by mail in the general election. Trump is a lock to carry the state but Republican Lindsey Graham's bid for reelection has become one of the hottest Senate races in the country.</p><p>Several voters and Democratic organizations had filed a lawsuit challenging the signature requirement.</p><h3>Michigan</h3><p>The bill passeed by the GOP Legislature gives clerks an extra 10 hours, on the day before Election Day, to begin processing absentee ballots.</p><p>Election officials had been asking for the change because of the huge number of absentee ballots that are expected in one of the premier presidential battlegrounds, with 16 electoral votes on the line.</p><p>The legislation also requires election officials to contact voters if their ballot has been rejected because the signature on it does not match the one on file. And it increases security around the drop boxes where people can deposit mail-in ballots.</p><p>About 2.4 million voters have requested absentee ballots so far in Michigan, and officials expect a record number of mailed-in ballots will be cast. The extension is important for Democrats because Trump has signaled he plans to rely on the results available election night to decide whether to claim victory.</p>
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Absentee voting fight pressed anew in three Southern states
Sep 23 2020
Thanks to the pandemic and the coming surge of absentee voting, several swing states have already been compelled to grant extra time for ballots to arrive by mail. North Carolina joined this roster Tuesday.
To settle one from the blizzard of lawsuits pushed by Democrats, the state not only extended that deadline on Tuesday but also agreed to allow voters a chance to correct procedural mistakes with their absentee ballots.
The double-barrel agreement came as a fresh federal lawsuit was seeking to make Arkansas give its voters a similar "ballot curing" option, while Republicans appealed a federal judge's extension for mailed ballots in Georgia.
As the record wave of litigation continues to roil preparations six weeks from Election Day, these are the details of the latest developments:
<h3>North Carolina</h3>
<p>The state, with 15 electoral votes both President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have in their sights, became the fourth battleground forced just this week to allow more time for ballot envelopes delayed in the mail. But unlike <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/vote-by-mail-deadline" target="_self">the other three</a>, where GOP appeals could yet reverse those decisions, North Carolina's seems destined to stand because it is the result of a lawsuit settlement.</p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The state agreed to count absentee ballots that arrive up to nine days after the election, or Nov. 12, so long as they are postmarked by the time the polls close Election Day. Before this change, mail ballots were invalidated if they arrived more than three days late, still a more permissive deadline than about two-thirds of the states.</p>
<p>The state will also give voters a chance to fix issues with their absentee ballot, something that wasn't guaranteed in previous elections. A previous lawsuit already allowed voters to request and complete a new ballot if an error occurred. But this settlement makes the process easier by asking voters to fill out a form with the information missing from their ballot.</p>
<p>The state Board of Elections, three Democrats and two Republicans, unanimously agreed on these changes Tuesday. The settlement must now be blessed by a judge, which seems likely to be a formality.</p>
<h3>Arkansas</h3>
<p>The <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/league-of-women-voters" target="_self">League of Women Voters</a> filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday requesting state officials establish a process for voters to fix issues with their absentee ballot. Current law requires election administrators to toss out ballots with missing signatures or incorrect information, such as a wrong address.</p>
<p>Voting rights advocates worry this could disenfranchise thousands of voters in the reliably red state. The lawsuit asks officials to start absentee ballot reviews 15 days before the election to give administrators and voters enough time to address potential issues.</p>
<h3>Georgia</h3>
<p>The Republican National Committee and the Georgia GOP on Monday asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse an extension for mailed ballots this fall. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had already started the appeals process.</p>
<p>A federal judge <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/absentee-ballot-georgia" target="_self">ruled</a> in August that election officials must count absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 that arrive within the next three days. Before the ruling, state law mandated arrival by the time polls close on Election Day, the rule in 33 states altogether. The extension could add tens of thousands of valid votes in a state with 16 too-close-to-call electoral votes and a pair of close Senate races</p>
<p>Georgia is the 20th state where the national GOP is involved in election lawsuits. Republicans say voters in Georgia have plenty of time to send in their mail ballots so the extension is not necessary.</p>
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Access to absentee voting expands in three more states
Claim: Absentee ballot request forms sent by political organizations are legitimate. Fact check: True
Sep 15 2020
While Trump is railing against vote by mail, his campaign sends out absentee ballot request forms here in NC. (Some… https://t.co/vNpTOczvZ9— tay (@tay)1597271280.0
Voters in states such as Texas and North Carolina were sent absentee voter request forms from political organizations that sometimes feature ads for candidates, including President Trump. As long as the form included in the ad is "not altered or pre-filled" the form would pass inspection in North Carolina, according to Patrick Gannon of the state's Board of Elections.
"As long as they are official North Carolina Absentee Ballot Request Forms (older versions of the official state form are also accepted, as we have updated them this year), and as long as no information is pre-filled, our county boards of elections should accept them," Gannon continued in his email.
Full details on determining the validity of absentee ballot request forms in North Carolina can be found here. Organizations involved in sending these mailers include the North Carolina GOP and the Center for Voter Information. Voters should make sure to inspect the forms they receive from political organizations to ensure they match their state's official request form or they can request an absentee ballot directly from their state's board of elections website.
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Under the judges' ruling, thousands of North Carolinians with felony records are now eligible to register to vote for the 2020 election.
Judges void N.C. law making felons pay fines and fees before voting
Sep 08 2020
Some North Carolinians with felony records will have their voting rights restored in time for the election.
A panel of three state judges has temporarily blocked part of a state law that prevents former felons from registering if they have outstanding fines or fees. Unless there's a successful appeal of Friday's 2-1 ruling, it opens the door for thousands to vote in one of this year's most important states — where the contest for 15 electoral votes is a tossup and so is a Senate race that will help determine partisan control of Congress.
North Carolina is one of 20 states where felons can vote after their prison time, probation and parole are complete. Civil rights advocates argue that requiring former felons to also pay fines or fees before being allowed back in the voting booth is the equivalent of an unconstitutional poll tax.
<p>The lawsuit filed by the Community Success Initiative, a voting rights advocacy group, sought to extend the franchise to 60,000 North Carolina felons out on probation or parole. While the judges did not agree to that much, two of them said requiring fines or fees to be paid off appears to violate the state Constitution.</p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>"Our Constitution is clear: no property qualification shall affect the right to vote," the majority wrote.</p>
<p>Without this temporary block on part of the state's law, the judges ruled that some would have suffered "substantial and irreparable" harm due to disenfranchisement. </p>
<p>It's unclear how many people will be eligible to vote this fall under the judges' limited ruling, but it nonetheless represents "a major victory for the thousands of North Carolinians who have been denied access to the ballot due to an inability to pay financial obligations," said Dennis Gaddy, executive director of Community Success Initiative.</p>
<p>But state GOP Chairman Michael Whatley called the ruling outrageous and said it was "yet another example of why we need to elect conservative judges who will apply the law rather than rewrite the laws they don't like."</p>
<p>North Carolina started mailing out absentee ballots on Friday. The deadline to register for the general election is Oct. 9.</p>
<p>The other main challenge to such a requirement, imposed by the GOP-run Florida Legislature last year after a referendum was approved to restore voting rights to more than a million felons in the nation's biggest purple state, is before a federal appeals court.</p>
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