Conservative justices appeared ready to strike down so-called “grace periods” for election officials to count mail-in ballots after Election Day.
Signaling a threat to millions of voters who cast mail-in ballots across the country and overseas, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared ready Monday to bless a recent push by Republicans to restrict how and when late-arriving mail-in ballots are counted.
The Republican National Committee, and Mississippi’s Republican and Libertarian parties have asked justices to unwind a Mississippi law passed in 2020 that allowed absentee voters to mail in their ballots with a postmark as late as Election Day. Under the state law, election officials were ordered to count ballots received as late as five days after Election Day. (Over 30 states currently have grace period rules for mail-in ballots that are similar.)
Paul Clement, the attorney representing the Republican National Committee, told the justices that all ballots, including mail-in ballots, must be received “into official custody” and counted by Election Day or be invalidated.
Seemingly suddenly disinterested in preserving states’ rights, Justices Neal Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh repeatedly appeared to share the RNC’s sentiments about the necessity of a singular Election Day —or one without grace periods for the counting of ballots. Justice Samuel Alito appeared to put a fine point on the majority’s grievances.
They hate democracy, so it’s no surprise.
AKA, allow the USPS to geographically invalidate votes.
SCOTUS already opened the door for postal fuckery last month: Supreme Court rules the Postal Service can’t be sued, even when mail is intentionally not delivered
That’s a crazy story! It also answers the question “which is a higher priority in Texas: protecting landlords or racism?” Good job, us…
It’s always republicans that cry about voting and only when they lose. When they win it’s all copacetic and “by a landslide” even when it’s 51-49.
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At this point we would crawl over broken glass to vote you out.
Just a reminder to everyone here and perhaps those who had inferior schooling like myself.
It was never about “State’s rights”. Southern states wanted “State’s rights” to own slaves but wanted federal agents to return runaway slaves who successfully made it north.
In other words:
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
Another way of viewing conservatism is by asking what it is that they seek to conserve. And that is the unaccountable privileges of the elite. That means that conservatism is opposed to meritocracy, accountability and rule of law.
Tony Benn’s five questions are useful in this regard:
- What power have you got?
- Where did you get it from?
- In whose interest do you exercise it?
- To whom are you accountable?
- How can we get rid of you?
Gorsuch pondered, too, whether voters would be able to recall their mail-in ballots if a scandal involving their candidate (like a “sexual escapade or colluding with a foreign power,” he said) broke out after Election Day.
It’s so weird and fucked up that he’s making this an argument against allowing postmarked ballots, which allow someone to wait until election day in case there are surprise scandals. He seems to think someone being able to recall a vote for someone who’s revealed to be unfit would be bad.
But instead of this hypothetical where a scandal comes out after polls close and some small number of people are able cancel votes sent from far away, he wants people to lock in their vote well before election day so that they can’t vote with the information available right up to the end like in person voters. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the next case he’ll be decrying early voting for doing just that.
The voter that gets in line at the last possible second has an unfair advantage over the voter that was there when the polls opened. Clearly we must mandate that everyone votes at the exact same time.
Eh, election cycles in US last years.
I don’t think US voters need to wait until the day-of to know about the candidates. They know at least 1 year in advance.
The Untied States are rapidly burning the fuck down. Leave before it’s too late. It may already be too late.
I get it but if you don’t fight here you will fight over there.
I’m trying. It takes money I don’t have right now
Busses to Mexico are cheap
I’d still have to pay for a place to live and food and, without getting a work visa ahead of time, unable to work legally. There is the digital nomad route, but the good ones do require training/expertise, such as programming or medicine.
Is it doable? Yes. It just takes planning and preparation, which I’m doing what I can while I’m looking for work.
Yeah, it takes about 3 months and a few hundred dollars to get working visas to a few dozen different countries in America.
Yes, just give it up. Americans used to like to joke about French surrender monkeys, but was about people like you–not the French resistance.
Hell’s where I was born! Hell’s where I was raised, This hell is where I’m from and this hell is where I’ll stay.
Wonder if they’re planning on counting one side first :)
Oops, the conservative justices’ “political question” doctrine is about to vanish in a puff of hypocritical smoke!
Interesting that the article didn’t mention online voting.
What I’m reading is that we should have ballot boxes in every neighborhood.
Until they pick up the boxes in minority neighborhoods and oops its too late now none of them count.
seems like everyone in this article is being disingenuous.
Welcome to the post-truth reality. Everyone everywhere is being disingenuous. Sincerity is a self-imposed handicap, holding yourself to a higher standard than the people who would subjugate you for fun and profit.
Then let me look down upon them
“Idiots! You should pan fry the mirepoix in a little oil to soften them and get all the toasty flavor before you add it to the soup,” you say to the cannibal from inside the pot.
I’m just saying other people acting in bad faith is not a reason for me to start acting in bad faith. I try not to let my behavior be dictated by others like that.
That is a responsible and optimistic worlview, AdolphSchmitler.
Security is getring tight. Good.
