The US Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court’s decision to disallow Wisconsin mail-in ballots to be counted if they arrive after Election Day.
The high court’s order, coming in a 5-3 vote, affirmed an Oct. 8 decision by the US Circuit Court of Appeals to block a ruling that would have allowed ballots in the state to be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day and received within the six following days.
Wisconsin state policy dictates that election officials must have mail-in ballots by the time polls close on Election Day.
Monday’s Supreme Court decision sided with Wisconsin’s Republican-led legislature, who opposed the mail-in ballot deadline extension.
Democrats in Wisconsin — a key swing state for the presidential election — had argued that over 100,000 voters could be “disenfranchised through no fault of their own” without an extension.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in mail-in voting across the country. President Trump has routinely blasted the voting method as being rife with fraud.
With Post wires