Latest news with #mailinballots
Yahoo
2 hours 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.
New York Times
4 days ago
- 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.
CBS News
4 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Supreme Court to weigh whether to revive Republicans' challenge to Illinois law for late-arriving ballots
Washington — The Supreme Court said Monday that it will consider whether to revive a Republican congressman's callenge to an Illinois law that allows mail-in ballots to be received and counted up to 14 days after Election Day. The dispute involving GOP Rep. Michael Bost will be heard by the Supreme Court in its next term, which begins in October, with a decision expected by the end of June 2026. The question in the case is a procedural one: Whether Bost and two Republican presidential electors have the legal right to challenge state regulations concerning the time, place and manner of federal elections. If the high court finds that the plaintiffs do have the legal standing to sue, their lawsuit could proceed. The case concerns an Illinois law that dictates when vote-by-mail ballots have to be postmarked and received in order for them to be counted. Changes in state law in 2005 effectively allow a mail-in ballot received up to 14 days after Election Day to be counted as long as it is cast by mail on or before the day of the election. At least 17 states also allow ballots that arrive after Election Day to be counted. Bost, who was first elected to Congress in 2014, and two Republican presidential electors sued Illinois election officials over the deadline for counting mail ballots in 2022. They argued in part that the receipt and counting of late-arriving ballots dilutes the value of their votes, infringing on their rights under the First and 14th Amendments, and contended that the ballot-receipt deadline is preempted by two federal statutes that set a uniform day for federal elections. A federal district court dismissed the case in 2023, finding that Bost and the two electors failed to allege that they have the legal right to sue, a concept known as standing. A divided three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld the district court's decision last year, agreeing that the plaintiffs did not allege standing to bring their lawsuit because they did not plausibly allege they had been injured by the law involving late-arriving mail ballots. Bost and the electors appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that in recent years, the ability of candidates and parties to sue over state laws that affect their campaigns has been restricted by the federal courts. "The court's guidance is needed to correct the unwarranted narrowing of candidates' ability to challenge electoral regulations," they wrote in a filing with the Supreme Court, adding that it is "vitally important" for the Supreme Court to clarify whether candidates can challenge state election laws in federal court. "It is important that courts hear and resolve well-pleaded challenges by federal candidates to state time, place, and manner regulations affecting their elections," the Republicans wrote. "Aside from the interests of the litigants, it is important that the public conclude that elections are run in an orderly, not arbitrary, fashion." But Illinois election officials urged the Supreme Court to turn away the appeal, arguing that the plaintiffs disagree with their decision to count mail-in ballots that are cast on or before Election Day, but arrive after. "They do not claim that Illinois's ballot receipt deadline affected their likelihood of prevailing in any race in which they have ever competed or are likely to compete in the future," the state officials said in a filing with the high court. "Rather, petitioners contend that they are entitled to challenge the deadline simply by virtue of their status as candidates, on the theory that a political candidate can always challenge a state's regulation of the time, place, and manner of conducting an election."
CBC
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Bloc Québécois pushes for Terrebonne byelection after mail-in ballot issues
The Bloc Québécois is calling on the Superior Court of Quebec to order a byelection in Terrebonne after losing by a single vote. The party is challenging the Liberal victory, citing problems with mail-in ballots.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawsuit challenges ‘unconstitutional' Kansas law cutting grace period for mail-in ballots
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways A lawsuit filed May 5, 2025, is challenging a Senate Bill 4 that eliminated the 3-day grace period for mail-in ballots. (Maya Smith for Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Three advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit Monday in Douglas County District Court challenging the Kansas Legislature's attempt to 'arbitrarily' reject advance ballots of voters if the mail system fails to deliver them by Election Day. Kansas Appleseed, Loud Light and Disability Rights Center of Kansas are asking the court to find Senate Bill 4 unconstitutional. Defendants are Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew. SB 4, which the Legislature passed this year, disqualifies any mail-in ballots not received by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Previously, mail-in ballots were counted if they were postmarked by Election Day and arrived within three days later. Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed SB4 but that veto was overturned in both chambers, with votes falling along party lines. In a statement, the three advocacy organizations called SB 4 a 'deliberate and unconstitutional assault on Kansans' fundamental right to vote.' 'This reckless law carelessly disregards the realities of postal delivery delays, which will disproportionately harm rural, elderly, and disabled voters,' the statement said. 'Furthermore, this law deliberately undermines the will of Kansas voters who have increasingly chosen to vote by mail in recent election cycles.' In the lawsuit, the advocacy organizations make a point that Kansans have been voting by mail ever since the Civil War. In 2017, the Legislature recognized that mail-in ballots arriving late deprived voters of their right to vote, and they instituted the three-day grace period. During legislative debate on SB4, former Rep. Ann Mah, a Topeka Democrat, called the bill 'pure partisan politics.' Statistics show far more Democrats than Republicans use mail-in ballots, and she noted the bill's lack of funding for an education program that would inform citizens of the change. More Democratic votes would be rejected than Republican votes, Mah said. 'If you make this change and do not fund an education program, you're intentionally causing thousands of votes to be thrown out,' she said. 'That's voter suppression.' The lawsuit said 32,000 mail-in ballots were received after Election Day in the 2020 general election during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2024 general election, 2,110 ballots arrived during the grace period. In Douglas County, Shew said he rejected more than 200 ballots in the Aug. 6, 2024, primary for arriving after the grace period, even though they were postmarked in July, the lawsuit said. 'SB 4's threat of disenfranchisement is particularly acute for some of Kansas's most vulnerable populations,' the lawsuit said. 'The elderly and Kansans with disabilities often have little to no choice but to vote by mail. And rural voters and voters who are temporarily out-of-state, such as many college students, will also be disproportionately affected because their mail is less likely to be delivered in a timely manner.' The lawsuit said the state of Kansas mails its ballots just 20 days before elections, unlike other states that send them out 30-45 days in advance. Kansas ties with Iowa as the two states with the shortest turnaround time, the filing said. SB4 is unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection clause that bans the state from arbitrarily rejecting voters' ballots based on their geography and whether the post office did its job effectively, the lawsuit said. 'Its due process clause requires that Kansas establish adequate procedures to ensure that voters have a reliable, fair, and effective method to cast their ballots,' it said.
