The campaign of former President Donald Trump and the Nevada Republican Party are suing Nevada over a law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted up to four days after the election.
The ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day, but are given four extra days to arrive. Trump and Republicans say state law violates federal election law and disproportionately harms Republicans.
“Nevada’s ballot receipt deadline clearly violates federal law and undermines election integrity in the state. Ballots received days after Election Day should not be counted — the RNC and our partners are suing to secure an honest election, support Nevada voters, and oppose unlawful schemes,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley said.
Democratic Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and the county clerks and registers of Washoe and Clark County are named in the suit.
At particular issue is a provision in the law saying that a “mail ballot shall be deemed to have been postmarked on or before the day of the election” if the postmark is illegible but it was received before 5 p.m. the third day after Election Day.
“The result of Nevada’s violation of federal law is that timely, valid ballots are diluted by untimely, invalid ballots, which violates the rights of candidates, campaigns, and voters under federal law,” the suit said. “Counting mail ballots received after Election Day doesn’t just dilute the valid ballots — it specifically and disproportionately harms Republican candidates and voters.”
The GOP has been slow to embrace mail-in voting because of its potential for fraud, but it is a reality for many states now.
When questionable mail-in ballots are counted, however, it cancels out a corresponding number of legitimate votes, which is completely counter to the idea of a fair voting system.
“Our office will not comment on ongoing litigation, but I hope the RNC is putting as much time and energy into educating voters on how to participate in elections as they put into suing the state of Nevada,” Aguilar said in response to the suit’s filing.
Democrats know that they benefit from counting questionable votes more than Republicans do, and they have consistently fought to count potentially fraudulent votes at every opportunity.
Using unmonitored drop boxes, counting undated ballots, and allowing proxies to collect mail-in votes are all strategies Democrats think are great.
And don't get me started on requiring voter ID. They don't want any part of a measure that could prevent voter fraud from occurring.
There isn't much time to resolve the lawsuit before Election Day, which is just under six months away.
A similar issue has already been resolved in Pennsylvania, where undated or illegible ballots will now not be counted, either before or after Election Day.
