Election Day will go longer in one state, and it’s likely to be a huge benefit to Democrats. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled on Monday that state officials can legally count mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day, even if they lack a postmark.
In a 5-2 decision, the court’s majority disagreed with the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) interpretation of state law, which calls for counting only postmarked ballots. Justices Douglas Herndon and Kristina Pickering agreed with the decision’s outcome but interpreted the law differently.
The Hill writes:
A majority of the high court ruled the state law requiring mail-in ballots to be counted even if the postmark “cannot be determined” applied to ballots without any postmark, as well as ballots whose postmarks are illegible.
The decision served as a blow to Republicans, who argued the law should just apply to ballots whose postmarks are illegible.
“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,” Nevada’s majority opinion read.
“Indeed, there is no principled distinction between mail ballots where the postmark is ‘illegible’ or ‘smudged’ and those with no postmark — in each instance, the date the mail ballot was received by the post office cannot be determined,” the court filing continued.
The RNC expressed disappointment with the ruling, arguing that bypassing the postmark requirement undermines election integrity by allowing potentially late ballots to be counted. Democratic attorney Bradley Schrager, however, praised the decision, stating it supports voter rights and minimizes last-minute electoral confusion.
The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office also backed the court’s decision, emphasizing the importance of preventing voter disenfranchisement. Initially filed in June by former President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Nevada GOP, the lawsuit aimed to stop the counting of ballots without postmarks. Although both parties acknowledged that the number of ballots involved is relatively small, they noted that in a close race, their impact could be significant.
To rerun 2020 right NV
This is why people no longer trust or believe in our courts. Blatant partisan decisions like this for political reasons is destroying our onfidence in and respect for the judiciary.