US Supreme Court declines to extend Wisconsin mail-in voting deadline

Siding with Republicans in the US state of Wisconsin, the Supreme Court has refused to extend deadline for reviving absentee ballots to six days after Election Day.

The divided court on Monday, vote 5 to 3, that mail-in ballots could be counted only if they are received by November 3, in the key presidential swing state.

Democrats in the state had asked the top court to allow the counting of ballots that arrive up to six days after Election Day if they were postmarked by November 3.

In a 2-1 ruling, the court, however, decided to leave in place a lower court’s earlier ruling that blocked US District Judge William Conley’s ruling that would have let officials count ballots that were postmarked by the time polls close on Election Day, but arrived up to six days later.

The ruling has concerned Democrats, who say this could leave thousands of ballots uncounted due to postal service changes and the massive number of voters seeking to vote by mail instead of in person, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan wrote in an opinion that the order from the justices “will disenfranchise large numbers of responsible voters in the midst of hazardous pandemic conditions.”

The pandemic has sparked an increase in voting by mail as millions of people seek to avoid crowds at polling places, even though President Donald Trump has repeatedly cast doubt — without evidence — over the reliability of the vote in ballots.

While the president says voting by mail would lead to mass voter fraud, experts describe it as secure as any other method.

Democrats say that without an extension of the ballot-receipt deadline more than 100,000 voters could be “disenfranchised through no fault of their own,” in Wisconsin.

A group of voters and a disability rights groups, joined by state and national Democrats, sued the legislature to try to get the mail-in ballot receipt deadline extended.

The Trump campaign, which welcomed the court ruling, called the demand for extension as the “Democrats’ last-minute attempted rule changes.”

The campaign said on Monday that the decision was a “major victory” for the president, who trails his Democratic challenger Joe Biden by 9 points in Wisconsin, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The poll, released on Monday, showed Biden leading the president by 53% to 44% in the state.

Trump seeks campaign boost as Biden leads in battleground Pennsylvania

US President Donald Trump is campaigning in the key state of Pennsylvania, where his Democratic challenger Joe Biden is holding a lead two weeks before Election Day.

Trump, secured a narrow victory in Wisconsin in 2016, which helped him to win the race.

The Supreme Court had upheld a ruling, last week, by a state court in Pennsylvania extending the mail-in ballot deadline there.

Pennsylvania, with 20 Electoral College votes, is now allowed to count mail ballots received up to three days after Election Day.

The state’s Republicans had requested the top court to pause a September ruling from the state’s Supreme Court, who say a Pennsylvania statute requires mail ballots to be received by 8 pm ET on Election Day.

The ruling is a major win for Democrats who have been pushing to expand access to voting amid concerns over the pandemic.

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