OAN Staff Blake Wolf
6:02 PM – Monday, October 28, 2024
The Nevada Supreme Court upheld a ruling that allows mail-in ballots without a postmark to be counted up to three days after Election Day, November 5th.
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Republicans backed by former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit in May, arguing that counting mail-in ballots without postmarks is unconstitutional and leaves room for voter fraud.
The Supreme Court ruling was announced on Monday. The judges claimed that Republicans did not present a strong enough case as to how the un-postmarked ballots would allow for voter fraud.
“If a voter properly and timely casts their vote by mailing their ballot before or on the day of the election, and through a post office omission the ballot is not postmarked, it would go against public policy to discount that properly cast vote,” the Justices stated in the ruling.
“Rejecting timely mail ballot because of postal service omissions cuts against the strong public interest in exercising the right to vote,” the statement continued. “Notably, the RNC presented no evidence or allegations that counting mail ballots without postmarks under [state law] would be subject to voter fraud, or that the election security measures currently in place are inadequate to address its concerns regarding these ballots.”
Although Justice Douglas Herndon and Justice Kristina Pickering each expressed concern about counting ballots without postmarks, they both still ruled that allowing the ballots without postmarks after election day would be of “nearly zero consequence” to the Republican plaintiffs.
Herndon said that the law was “clear and unambiguous that a mail ballot must contain a postmark,” however, he still voted to uphold the state’s policy.
Meanwhile, Pickering stated that she disagreed with the interpretation of the state law, but she also expressed her belief that it was “too close” to Election Day to “change the rules governing this election.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling was upheld from a previous ruling by District Court Judge James Russell, who stated that “any possible injury to Plaintiffs is entirely speculative and hypothetical,” citing the June primary election, which only reportedly had 24 ballots received without a postmark.
The latest ruling is a big loss for the Republican National Committee in Nevada after losing previous lawsuits as well. One suit contested the state’s mail-in ballot process allowing for mail-in votes to be counted after election day.
The Republicans also lost another lawsuit in June. They argued that Nevada’s voter registration records are “inaccurate,” and “bloated with ineligible voters.” Yet, the judges disagreed.
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