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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTens of thousands of ballots that arrived after Election Day were counted, thanks to court decisions
Early last month, voters in Wisconsin navigated a dizzying number of rule changes governing the states spring elections as officials tussled over the risks of the novel coronavirus, prompting a backlog of absentee ballot requests and fears that many would not be able to participate.
But in the end, tens of thousands of mail ballots that arrived after the April 7 presidential primaries and spring elections were counted by local officials, a review by The Washington Post has found the unexpected result of last-minute intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In Milwaukee and Madison alone, the states two largest cities, more than 10 percent of all votes counted, nearly 21,000 ballots, arrived by mail after April 7, according to data provided by local election officials.
The surprising outcome after warnings that many Wisconsinites would be disenfranchised amid the pandemic was the result of a largely unexamined aspect of the courts decision that temporarily changed which ballots were counted. Because of the order, election officials for the first time tallied absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day, rather than just those received by then underscoring the power of narrow court decisions to significantly shape which votes are counted.
What happened in Wisconsin has potentially far-reaching implications as the two parties square off in courtrooms across the country, hoping to notch legal victories that will shape the electorate in their favor before November.
Democrats think they have secured a game-changing precedent from the Supreme Courts 5-to-4 order. In the past week alone, lawsuits bankrolled by Democratic committees have been filed in four states seeking similar postmark rules and citing the Wisconsin opinion to bolster their argument. More cases are expected in the coming week.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/unexpected-outcome-in-wisconsin-tens-of-thousands-of-ballots-that-arrived-after-voting-day-were-counted-thanks-to-court-decisions/2020/05/03/20c036f0-8a59-11ea-9dfd-990f9dcc71fc_story.html
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)You got your vote in the mail by election day, it should count.
At minimum it DEFINITELY should during a pandemic lockdown.