Thursday, October 29, 2020

More election litigation

If you listen to leftists, they'll have you believe that demands to not allow a state's constitutional office to unilaterally change election law is tantamount to voter suppression. 


A federal court sided Thursday with a GOP challenge to Minnesota’s extended deadline for receiving absentee ballots after Election Day, imperiling a state rule that would count mail-in ballots received up to a week after Tuesday’s election.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges ordered that all mail-in ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day be set aside, setting the stage for a potential legal battle after the election. But the order stopped short of a final determination on the validity of the post-Election Day ballots.

The ruling came in a case brought by Minnesota GOP presidential electors challenging a state rule allowing election officials to count ballots received until Nov. 10, as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3. It is one of several Republican challenges to extended deadlines that were adopted in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina in response to concerns about the pandemic and potential mail delays.

The Eighth Circuit opinion concluded that state and federal law superseded the state court-approved extension.

“There is no pandemic exception to the Constitution,” the panel wrote.

Wait, you mean officials in Minnesota's Executive branch attempted to politicize the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to usurp the legislative process?!?!?! Get out!

The fact is, there was legislation which addressed issues with absentee voting during a pandemic. Any leftists who are up in arms over this court decision can have a chat with their preferred political party in the MN Legislature. 




Voting began September 18. If people had legit concerns about catching COVID by voting in person, there was more than ample opportunity to request an absentee ballot with plenty of time to send in via mail. Even if one considered himself/herself an "undecided" voter at that point, mailing a ballot by, say, October 20 (two weeks before Election Day) would have been sufficient. 


It seemed that the extension of the deadline to accept absentee ballots was a solution in search of a problem. Now if Republicans have success Tuesday evening, Dems will have a ready-made excuse in their hip pockets. Heck, the Minnesota DFL's top media apologist already launched a preemptive strike. 





2020, man.


-------------------------------------------- 

No comments: