Recent news
Here are the changes made to election dates and rules since our last edition, including legal decisions, executive actions, and legislation.
Roundup
Missouri: On Oct. 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit blocked a district court order that would have allowed voters to return their mail-in ballots in person. As a result, voters must return their mail-in ballots by mail.
On June 4, Gov. Mike Parson (R) signed SB631 into law, permitting any registered voter to vote by mail in any 2020 election, subject to a notarization requirement. The law requires mail-in ballots to be returned by mail. In Missouri, mail-in ballots are distinct from absentee ballots, which are available only to voters meeting specific eligibility criteria and are subject to different return requirements.
On Oct. 9, Judge Brian C. Wimes of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri issued an order requiring election authorities to accept mail-in ballots returned in person. However, on Oct. 10, Wimes, a Barack Obama (D) appointee, suspended his own order pending appeal, leaving the requirement that mail-in ballots be returned by mail in place.
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) appealed Wimes' decision to the Eighth Circuit. The appellate court granted Ashcroft's request to extend the suspension of the district court's order. The court's unsigned order indicated that a full opinion is forthcoming.
Pennsylvania: On Oct. 23, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that election officials cannot reject a mail-in ballot because the signature on the ballot return documents does not appear to match the voter's signature on file.
On Sept. 11, the Pennsylvania Department of State issued guidance to this effect after the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh filed suit against the state over the issue. The groups dropped their suit once the guidance was issued.
However, Republicans–including Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee–sued Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar (D) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in a bid to overturn that guidance. On Oct. 10, Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, a Donald Trump (R) appointee, dismissed the lawsuit.
Boockvar then asked the state supreme court to take up the question. The high court's seven justices–five Democrats and two Republicans–ruled unanimously in Boockvar's favor.
Lawsuits
To date, we have tracked 404 lawsuits and/or court orders involving election policy issues and the COVID-19 outbreak. Click here to view the complete list of lawsuits and court orders.
Here's the latest on noteworthy litigation. Examples of noteworthy litigation include, but are not limited to, lawsuits filed by presidential campaigns and major political parties, and cases decided by state supreme courts.
New Jersey: On Oct. 22, Judge Michael Shipp of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed a lawsuit over legislation directing that New Jersey's general election take place predominantly by mail.
The plaintiffs–including Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., and the Republican National Committee–argued New Jersey's "rushed shift to universal vote-by-mail elections facilitates fraudulent and invalid votes." The plaintiffs further alleged, "such voters dilute the legitimate votes of honest citizens and deprive them of their right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment."
Shipp, an Obama appointee, rejected these arguments: "Plaintiffs must allege that their members or voters have 'suffered "injury in fact" that is a) concrete and particularized and b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical.' As the State and [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] persuasively argue, however, Plaintiffs' claims are largely conjectural, hypothetical, and lacking in imminence."
Ohio: On Oct. 22, the NAACP of Ohio, the League of Women Voters, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute of Ohio dropped their federal lawsuit against Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) over his order limiting counties to one absentee/mail-in ballot drop box location per county.
The voluntary dismissal ends the legal proceedings over LaRose's order. On Oct. 9, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit blocked a district court that had directed LaRose to allow counties to install drop boxes at multiple locations. The Sixth Circuit's ruling allowed LaRose's original directive to stand.
Jon Greenbaum, an attorney for the plaintiff organizations, said: "We believe the appeals' decision was wrong, but we didn’t have any other options. We weren’t going to make it better by appealing that decision. At a future date, it can be brought up with new information, including from the 2020 election."
In a statement, a representative for LaRose said: "Ohio voters can continue on with the business of participating in the most secure and accessible election in Ohio’s history.”
Today: How will election recounts work in the 2020 elections?
The Help Desk daily feature will answer one frequently asked question or provide a summary of key election dates and policies each day. Today we take a look at how recounts will work.
Recounts typically occur in the event of a close margin of victory, following accusations of election fraud, or due to the possibility of administrative errors. Forty-nine states have laws allowing recounts.
Before a recount can begin, it must be triggered. There are two types of recount triggers: automatic recounts and requested recounts. Automatic recounts occur if election results meet certain criteria laid out in state law. Requested recounts require an interested party to ask for a recount. Unlike automatic recounts, if a recount is not requested, it will not be held.
The scope of a recount can vary by the number of precincts included. A full recount occurs when every precinct's returns for a given race are recounted. In a partial recount, the number of precincts recounted is less than the total number involved in the race. For automatic recounts, state law typically mandates a full recount. For requested recounts, requesters may be allowed to specify which precincts they want to be recounted.
Who pays for a recount typically depends upon whether the recount is automatic or requested. In the event of an automatic recount and recounts requested by election officials, states or counties usually cover the costs. When an interested party requests a recount, the party is normally responsible for most of the costs, unless the recount overturns the election results, in which case the state or county covers the cost.
Recounts in most states are conducted to either verify or overturn election results. If the recount verifies the original election outcome, the initial winner remains the winner. If the recount overturns the original outcome, a new candidate may be declared the winner.
In two states—Alabama and Illinois—recounts cannot directly overturn election results. If a recount in those two states changes the election outcome, a court decides whether to change the outcome.
To learn more about recounts and how they will work for the Nov. 3 election, click here. To read about specific recount laws in your state, click here.
What we’re reading today
Upcoming dates and deadlines
Here are the key deadlines for voter registration, early voting, and absentee/mail-in voting coming up in the next seven days. For coverage of all dates, deadlines, and requirements, click here.
- Voter registration deadlines:
- October 24:
- Iowa (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Massachusetts (in-person, mail-in postmarked, online)
- October 26:
- Colorado (mail-in received, online)
- Montana (mail-in postmarked)
- Washington (mail-in received, online)
- October 27:
- Connecticut (in-person, mail-in postmarked, online)
- October 29:
- October 30:
- Early voting begins:
- October 24:
- October 26:
- October 27:
- October 29:
- Early voting ends:
- October 27:
- October 29:
- October 30:
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Texas
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- Idaho
- Utah
- Absentee/mail-in voting request deadline:
- October 24:
- Alaska (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Florida (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Iowa (in-person, mail-in postmarked)
- South Carolina (mail-in received)
- October 26:
- Colorado (in-person, mail-in received)
- Washington (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- October 27:
- District of Columbia (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Hawaii (in-person, mail-in received)
- Kansas (in-person, mail-in received)
- Kentucky (in-person, mail-in received)
- North Carolina (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Oklahoma (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Pennsylvania (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Tennessee (in-person, mail-in received)
- New York (mail-in postmarked, online)
- New Jersey (mail-in received)
- California (mail-in received)
- Arkansas (mail-in received)
- October 28:
- Massachusetts (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- West Virginia (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- October 29:
- Alabama (in-person, mail-in received)
- Wisconsin (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Illinois (mail-in received, online)
- Maine (mail-in received, online)
- October 30:
- Delaware (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Louisiana (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- Maine (in-person)
- South Carolina (in-person)
- Georgia (mail-in received, online)
- Michigan (mail-in received, online)
- Absentee/mail-in voting return deadline:
And a dose of calm
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