On Monday (October 28), the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that mail-in ballots with unclear, difficult to identify, or missing postmarks can still be counted within three days after the end of election day.
The state Supreme Court rejected the request to block the counting of these ballots filed by the Republican National Committee, former President Trump’s campaign team, and voter Scott Johnston. Republicans believe that counting “invalid” mail-in ballots will benefit Democratic candidates.
The ruling upheld a decision made by Carson City District Judge James Todd Russell in August and adopted arguments presented by seven judges during a court hearing on October 8.
Five judges acknowledged that state law does not clearly specify how to count ballots with unclear postmarks or delivery dates. However, the ruling stated that state legislators clearly intended to “expand the voting freedom of Nevada residents.” The other two judges wrote concurring opinions, but disagreed with the majority on certain legal interpretations.
The Supreme Court’s ruling cited a federal judge’s conclusion in a 2020 case where Trump’s campaign team challenged Nevada’s election results, allowing mail-in ballots without postmarks received within three days after the election to be delivered to the election office and “presumed to have been timely mailed.”
The ruling pointed out that out of over 383,000 ballots cast statewide during the Nevada primary in June, only 24 ballots were found to have no postmark, attributing such postmark errors to “random lapses in postal service.” According to the Secretary of State’s records, two-thirds of the primary ballots in Nevada were delivered by mail.
The judges stated that the Republican National Committee failed to prove its right to seek court intervention to stop the counting of ballots, nor did it demonstrate that the committee would suffer “irreparable harm” if the counting proceeded.
In May, Nevada Secretary of State and Democrat Francisco Aguilar informed county election officials that ballots without clear postmarks should be counted by 5 p.m. on the Friday after election day (November 8 this year). Subsequently, Republicans raised legal objections.
Aguilar said in a statement that the ruling “will allow the work of Nevada’s election administration to continue uninterrupted and will not disenfranchise voters who have done nothing wrong.” He also praised election workers, saying, “They have put in extra resources to ensure the handling of this round of mail-in ballots is secure and efficient.”
Republican National Committee spokesperson Claire Zunk stated in a release that the ruling “undermines the integrity of Nevada elections.”
Nevada currently has 13 election-related court cases, including the one ruled on by the state Supreme Court on Monday.
Furthermore, federal and state Republicans filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court in San Francisco seeking to overturn a lawsuit dismissed in July, aiming to prohibit the counting of any mail-in ballots received after election day.
On Friday (October 25), a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Appeals Court ruled that Mississippi cannot count mail-in ballots that arrived shortly after election day, but the decision is not expected to affect the November 5th election. The ruling noted that federal courts have previously prevented actions that change established procedures shortly before an election.
Nevada became one of the states implementing universal mail-in voting in 2020. All registered voters receive mail-in ballots unless they opt-out. Voters can also cast their ballots early or on election day in person.
Nevada is one of eight states commonly known for all-mail elections and one of 19 states that allow counting of postmarked ballots after election day.
Under state law, signed mail-in ballots with postmarks will be accepted and counted until 5 p.m. on the Saturday after polling stations close (November 9 this year).
On Monday, the US Postal Service urged voters using mail-in ballots to submit them before this Tuesday to ensure they arrive before election day.
Nevada has nearly 2 million active registered voters, with the Secretary of State’s office reporting over 643,000 received mail-in, early, and overseas ballots on Monday. Nearly 40% were from registered Republicans, around 35% from Democrats, and approximately 25% were not affiliated with either party. Early voting will end this Friday.
Nevada is one of the seven key battleground states, and the results of the upcoming presidential election next week are expected to be very close. The other six states are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
In this year’s presidential election, except for Nevada, the remaining battleground states will no longer count mail-in ballots received after election day.
(Reference: This article referenced reports from the Associated Press)