Latest news with #MikeBost
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear case threatening ballots mailed by Election Day, but received later
Jun. 2—The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear a case against mail-in ballots in Illinois that may affect Washington. The case was brought by U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Illinois, who sued the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2022. According to the New York Times, Bost and two federal electors argued that the state's law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted 14 days after an election violates statutes that created an Election Day. Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton said Washington state could be affected by the ruling in this case as ballots that are postmarked by Election Day or before are accepted 10, 14 and sometimes 21 days after Election Day, depending on the election. "It would disenfranchise voters," Dalton said. "It may have a pretty significant impact on our operations." Both federal courts that previously heard Bost's case, a federal district court in Illinois and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, dismissed it, agreeing that it lacked standing as Bost couldn't prove that the state laws directly injured him. Dalton said if the Supreme Court case agrees with Bost, the change could affect voter turnout. Oregon also has a universal vote-by-mail system, but requires mailed ballots be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day. In the 2024 general election, Washington had a voter turnout of around 79%. In Oregon's general election of the same year, about 75% of voters cast ballots. According to a 2024 study from the University of Chicago, universal vote-by-mail programs tend to increase voter turnout by around 2 to 4 percentage points. Dalton said that accepting the postmarked ballots later is helpful for both the voter and the election office as it gives them more time to process each ballot. "Lots of people wait until the last minute because we're humans and humans procrastinate to a great extent," Dalton said. Despite the increase in voter turnout, late mail-in ballots are often challenged in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 election where he called the later-arriving votes fraudulent. The Spokane County Republican Party last year adopted a platform calling for an end to mail-in voting as well as a return to hand-counting all ballots. State Reps. Mike Volz and Jenny Graham were among Republican legislators who backed a bill this year to bring back in-person voting and eliminate mail-in voting for non-absentee voters. The bill didn't receive a hearing. The Supreme Court case is on the docket for the next term beginning in October. If any changes happen in the months following, Dalton said the county's first steps would be to await orders from the Secretary of State Steve Hobbs.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
U.S. Supreme Court to hear Representative Bost's case on mail-in voting
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – According to Capitol News Illinois (CNI), the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal on a lawsuit led by Illinois Republican U.S. Representative Mike Bost challenging Illinois' mail-in voting law. CNI reports Rep. Bost and a pair of Illinois primary delegates for President Donald Trump sued the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2022, arguing that the state's law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day violates the federal law establishing an 'Election Day.' Both a lower federal trial court and federal appeals court have ruled Bost lacked standing to sue. Crews work to repair sink hole near Oak Hill Cemetery The Supreme Court said its ruling will focus on whether Rep. Bost, of Murphysboro, in his role as a political candidate, has legal grounds to sue over a state's election law, rather than if Illinois' mail-in voting law is legal, because the appeal challenges lower court rulings that Rep. Bost allegedly did not have legal grounds to sue. USI to propose no tuition increase at public forum June 5 According to CNI, a favorable ruling for Rep. Bost by the Supreme Court could force lower courts to issue a ruling about Illinois' law. It's not clear when the nation's high court will hear Bost's case. The court is scheduled to begin hearing oral arguments in October. According to this report, under Illinois law, ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted as late as 14 days after the election as they arrive at local election offices. Rep. Bost's case argues this violates the federal law establishing Election Day by allowing votes to arrive and be counted for two weeks after the polls close. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
U.S. Supreme Court will hear Bost's appeal over Illinois' mail-in ballots
The U.S. Supreme Court announced in an order filed on Monday that it will hear a southern Illinois congressman's appeal over the state's counting of mail-in ballots received up to 14 days after Election Day. U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Muphysboro, and two Illinois delegates to the Republican National Convention first filed the lawsuit against the Illinois State Board of Elections in May 2022 — alleging that counting ballots after the election violated federal election law. A President Trump-appointed judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Bost and the other plaintiffs lacked legal standing to challenge the state law. The high court agreed to hear Bost's appeal on standing during its next term, which is scheduled to start in October. 'With the American people's confidence in our elections at a discouraging low point, it's more important than ever we work to restore their trust,' Bost said in a statement. 'I believe a big part of that effort is ensuring all votes are tallied by Election Day, not days or weeks later.' The conservative activist group Judicial Watch will represent Bost and the other plaintiffs' appeal. 'The Supreme Court's decision to hear this case is a critical opportunity to uphold federal law, protect voter rights, and ensure election integrity,' said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. 'Illinois' 14-day extension of Election Day thwarts federal law, violates the civil rights of voters, and invites fraud.' A spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections declined to comment on the pending litigation. Bost has represented Illinois' 12th Congressional District since 2015, which includes portions of the Metro East. St. Louis Public Radio's Rachel Lippmann contributed to this report.
New York Times
02-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Illinois Mail-In Ballot Law
The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would hear a case brought by a conservative congressman who had challenged an Illinois election law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted up to 14 days after an election. Representative Mike Bost, a Republican who represents a district in downstate Illinois, along with two federal electors, sued the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2022. They argue that the state's law violates federal statutes establishing an Election Day because it allows absentee ballots to be received and counted after the election. Republicans have repeatedly challenged state laws that allow ballots sent by mail to be counted after Election Day, an issue that President Trump pressed after his loss in the 2020 election, in which the use of mail balloting expanded because of the coronavirus pandemic. A federal trial court had dismissed the case, finding that Mr. Bost and the electors lacked standing, meaning that they were not able to show they were directly injured by the state law. A federal appeals court agreed. Mr. Bost, who is represented by the conservative activist group Judicial Watch, asked the justices to weigh in. The election law dispute is one of four new cases that the justices agreed on Monday to add to their docket for next term. The others include a case about whether immigrant detainees can sue a private detention company that they accuse of forcing them to perform labor; a Montana case about when law enforcement officers may enter a home without a search warrant if they believe an emergency is underway; and a dispute over whether a U.S. soldier injured by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan can sue the government contractor who had employed the bomber. The justices had already agreed to hear another high-profile dispute during their upcoming term, which will begin the first Monday in October — a First Amendment challenge to a Colorado law that prohibits conversion therapy intended to change a minor's gender identity or sexual orientation. The justices will likely add more cases in the coming weeks as they wrap up their current term. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
02-06-2025
- Politics
Supreme Court to consider reviving Republican challenge to Illinois mail ballots law
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider reviving a Republican challenge to an Illinois law that allows mail ballots to be counted if they are received up to two weeks after Election Day. The justices will hear arguments in the fall over whether Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and two former presidential electors have the legal right, or standing, to sue over the law in federal court. Lower federal courts ruled they lack standing. But the case could serve to amplify claims made by President Donald Trump that late-arriving ballots and drawn out electoral counts undermine confidence in elections. Illinois is among 18 states and the District of Columbia that accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In March, Trump signed a sweeping executive order on elections that aims to require votes to be 'cast and received' by Election Day and says federal funding should be conditional on state compliance. In their appeal to the court, the Illinois Republicans said the justices should make clear that candidates have the right to challenge state regulations of federal elections.
