Voters favored casting early and mail ballots in last year's presidential election, report shows
FILE - A voter drops off their ballot at a dropbox on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: pubinfo.section: cms.site.custom.site_domain : thestar.com sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false firstAuthor.avatar :
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Toronto Star
6 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Voters favored casting early and mail ballots in last year's presidential election, report shows
FILE - A voter drops off their ballot at a dropbox on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Winnipeg Free Press
6 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Voters favored casting early and mail ballots in last year's presidential election, report shows
ATLANTA (AP) — Casting mailed ballots remained popular among voters in last year's presidential election, even as President Donald Trump has tried to undercut the process through a wide-ranging executive order. A report released Monday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission also found a surge in early in-person voting and robust use of ballot drop boxes, which have been a target of conspiracy theorists since the 2020 election. The findings, based on data collected at the local level and submitted by states, illustrate the sustained popularity of alternate voting methods even as they have come under attack in recent years from Republicans. 'Notwithstanding the rhetoric from some, our election process continues to reflect the expectations voters have about where, when and how to vote,' said David Levine, a former county election official in Idaho who is now a senior fellow at the University of Maryland's Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. 'Once voters try voting before Election Day, they often continue to do so for future elections.' Overall, more than 158 million ballots were counted for the November 2024 presidential election, according to the report. Turnout was 3 percentage points lower than in 2020 but nearly 4 percentage points higher than during the 2016 presidential election. Mail voting is popular despite rhetoric Roughly 30% of voters last fall used a mail ballot, a decline from the 43% who did so during the pandemic election in 2020 but higher than pre-pandemic elections, when mail ballots typically accounted for about 25% of votes cast. The report noted that four states – Democratic-leaning Washington and Republican-leaning Indiana, South Dakota and Utah — saw higher percentages of mail voting in 2024 than four years earlier. Trump has long complained, without providing evidence, that mail voting opens a pathway to fraud. The election executive order he signed in March, which is facing several lawsuits, targets mail voting by saying all ballots must be received by Election Day. Currently, 18 states and Puerto Rico accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date. Oregon and Washington, where elections are conducted almost entirely by mail, filed their own lawsuit against the order fearing that tens of thousands of their voters could be disenfranchised if it is allowed to stand. During a news conference announcing the lawsuit, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said more than 300,000 ballots in his state arrived after Election Day in 2024. Popularity of early in-person voting surges The report found the 2024 presidential election saw a drop in Election Day voting and a corresponding increase in early, in-person voting. Election Day voting declined from 49% in 2022 to roughly 37% in 2024, when 35% took advantage of voting early. Republican-dominated South Carolina and Democratic-leaning Delaware had the largest increases in early, in-person voting compared to four years ago. Republicans last year mounted a campaign to reverse years of conservative criticism of early voting methods and persuade their voters to cast ballots before Election Day, a strategy that helped Trump win a second term. Ballot drop boxes used heavily where they are allowed Since Trump's loss in 2020, conservative activists and conspiracy theorists have zeroed in on ballot drop boxes as a potential source of fraud despite no evidence of that occurring in that year's elections. Some Republican-led states have since blocked their use or reduced their availability. But they remain popular in other parts of the country. The report found drop boxes were in use in 35 states plus the District of Columbia in 2024. Of those, 21 states reported a total of nearly 15 million mail ballots returned with the use of a drop box, accounting for about 45% of all mail ballots returned by voters. Of the states that reported data on ballot drop boxes for 2022 and 2024, four states reported double-digit increases in the percentage of mail ballots returned at drop boxes: the Democratic stronghold of California, Republican-leaning Kansas and Utah, and swing state Nevada.
Ottawa Citizen
11 hours ago
- Ottawa Citizen
From DEI to federal cuts: How lawsuits against the Trump agenda could be affected by new USSC ruling
Article content WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Friday limiting federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions threatens to upend numerous lawsuits that have led to orders blocking Trump administration policies. Article content Between the start of the new administration and mid-May, judges issued roughly 40 nationwide injunctions against the White House on topics including federal funding, elections rules and diversity and equity considerations. Attorneys involved in some of those cases are vowing to keep fighting, noting the high court left open other legal paths that could have broad nationwide effect. Article content Article content Article content Multiple federal judges have issued nationwide injunctions blocking President Donald Trump's order denying citizenship to U.S.-born children of people who are in the country illegally or temporarily. The high court's decision Friday came in a lawsuit over that order, but the justices left unclear whether the restrictions on birthright citizenship could soon take effect in parts of the country. Article content Opponents went back to court within hours of the opinion, using a legal path the court left open to file class-action lawsuits that could have nationwide effect. Article content Election rules Article content On June 13, U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper in Massachusetts blocked Trump's attempt to overhaul elections in the U.S. An executive order the Republican president issued in March sought to compel officials to require documentary proof of citizenship for everyone registering to vote for federal elections, accept only mailed ballots received by Election Day and condition federal election grant funding on states adhering to the new ballot deadline. Article content Article content California was one of the plaintiffs in that suit. The office of the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta, said in an email it was assessing the effect of Friday's Supreme Court decision on all of the state's litigation. Article content A federal judge in California in April blocked the administration from cutting off funding for legal representation for unaccompanied migrant children. The administration has appealed. Article content U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in San Francisco said there was 'no practical way' to limit the scope of the injunction by party or by geography.
