US election: Supreme Court allows key states to count late postal ballots
Supreme court rejects Republican pleas to block late postal ballots, ruling counting can continue after polling day in key states.
America is bracing itself for days of post-election uncertainty after Supreme Court rulings that counting can continue after polling day in some key states, despite Republican attempts to block late postal ballots.
Democrats won the right for delayed postal votes to be allowed for nine days after the polls close on Tuesday in the marginal state of North Carolina, and for three days in Pennsylvania, a large state seen by both sides as key to victory.
President Trump, who has claimed without evidence that the surge in postal voting means that the election will be rigged against him, was hoping to reverse Joe Biden’s lead in the opinion polls by touting yesterday’s (Thursday’s) record economic growth figures for the third quarter.
Mr Trump, who has said the US is “rounding the turn” on the coronavirus despite record daily cases, tweeted that the country was in for a “fantastic” year after the economy grew by 7.4 per cent in the three months to September under his policy of returning to business as usual.
GDP number just announced. Biggest and Best in the History of our Country, and not even close. Next year will be FANTASTIC!!! However, Sleepy Joe Biden and his proposed record setting tax increase, would kill it all. So glad this great GDP number came out before November 3rd.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2020
All 50 states set their own rules for the election, with only eight expecting to have fully counted their votes by noon on Wednesday and 22 allowing postal votes that are postmarked by the close of polls on Tuesday.
A surge in requests for postal ballots because of the pandemic has led officials in Pennsylvania and Michigan, another knife-edge state, to say that they would take days to complete the count, adding to fears of unrest during a hiatus when there may be rival claims of victory.
The Supreme Court ruling that allows Pennsylvania to count postal votes for three extra days also kept open the possibility of a dispute, leading state officials to announce that they would keep late ballots separately in case of legal action after polling day. The two campaigns have big teams of lawyers ready to pounce.
A 3 day extension for Pennsylvania is a disaster for our Nation, and for Pennsylvania itself. The Democrats are trying to steal this Election. We have to get out and VOTE in even larger numbers. The Great Red Wave is coming!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2020
Neither of the rulings involved Amy Coney Barrett, the conservative justice who was sworn in this week, who said that she did not have time to study all the arguments. That left it to the eight other members of the Supreme Court - five conservatives and three liberals - although Justice Barrett did not rule out joining post-election decisions.
The Senate just confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) October 27, 2020
One of the most impressive nominees for public office in a generation will serve for life on our highest court. pic.twitter.com/qkJ0FPbTv1
This adds to the uncertainty, according to Rick Hasen, professor of law and politics at the University of California, Irvine. “Where this stuff would really matter is if it’s a really close election and it comes down to a very close race in Pennsylvania and there’s Trump alleging fraud,” he said. “That’s where I think Republicans are going to see if there’s a way to use the courts or the political process to win a very narrow election.
Democrats fear that Justice Barrett, 48, will entrench a conservative majority that will limit postal ballots, there being evidence that many more Democratic voters than Republicans have chosen postal voting this year. In an earlier ruling Brett Kavanaugh, another Trump appointment, backed the president’s line, saying: “For important reasons most states . . . require absentee ballots to be received by election day, not just mailed by election day. Those states want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results. And those states also want to be able to definitively announce the results on election night, or as soon as possible thereafter.”
Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader, reassured voters in his home state of Kentucky yesterday (Thursday) that there would not be trouble on the streets during a delayed results process, as some have predicted. “We will have a thoroughly credible election . . . it may not be known election night [but] the American people are going to decide who they want to run their country,” he said.
Mr Trump, 74, is due to hold a rally in Tampa, Florida, a state he won in 2016 but where he and Mr Biden are neck and neck in the polls. He called off another rally in North Carolina.
Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party leader who joined Mr Trump on stage in Arizona on Wednesday night and called him “the single most resilient and bravest person I have ever met in my life”, tweeted yesterday (Thursday): “Trump beat the pollsters before and he can do it again.”
Very surprised to be asked onto the stage, delighted to do so. He is on top form. pic.twitter.com/zLxPCJFcYg
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 28, 2020
Trump beat the pollsters before and he can do it again. https://t.co/Cl1rvBQTZy
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 29, 2020
The president is hoping that the economic recovery after the shutdown-induced collapse in April will boost his chances. “GDP number just announced. Biggest and Best in the History of our Country, and not even close,” he tweeted. “Next year will be FANTASTIC!!! However, Sleepy Joe Biden and his proposed record setting tax increase, would kill it all.”
Mr Biden, 77, who is holding a rival event in Tampa, said: “We are in a deep hole and President Trump’s failure to act has meant that third-quarter growth wasn’t nearly enough to get us out; the recovery is slowing if not stalling; and the recovery that is happening is helping those at the top, but leaving tens of millions of working families and small businesses behind.”
GDP rose last quarter, but visits to food banks haven’t slowed, and poverty has grown. We’re on track for the worst economic downturn in over 70 years, and Donald Trump is on track to be the first president since Herbert Hoover to leave office with less jobs than when he came in.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 29, 2020
The presidential and congressional elections are expected to cost $20bn, twice as much as in 2016 and by far the most expensive in history.
The Times
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