New ruling ahead of US presidential election

The US Supreme Court has just issued a ruling on voting regulations in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, one of the focal points of this year's presidential election.

The US Supreme Court on November 1 upheld a Pennsylvania state court's ruling that backup ballots would be counted for voters when mail-in ballots were rejected due to technical errors, thereby rejecting an appeal from the Republican Party.

Mail-in ballots

According to Pennsylvania regulations, voters need two envelopes when voting by mail: one to seal the ballot to ensure secrecy, the other to fill in the content to send by mail. Those who vote by mail before the deadline will not be able to use the backup ballot on Election Day November 5, according to The Guardian . After the Supreme Court's ruling, voters can exercise their right to vote at the polling place if they have not previously sealed their ballot.

Republicans believe tens of thousands of votes could be disputed and should not be counted, especially in Pennsylvania, a state that is crucial to this year's presidential and Senate elections. Former President Donald Trump won Pennsylvania's electoral votes in 2016, while President Joe Biden won the state in 2020, contributing to his overall victory.

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The scope and impact of the ruling are unclear, with US media outlets describing the development as potentially affecting “thousands of votes.” Democrats have seized on the court’s ruling to criticize Republicans and Mr. Trump. “Mr. Trump and his allies have made it harder for your vote to count, but our institutions are stronger than his attacks,” Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign said in a statement on November 1.

People vote by mail in Pennsylvania on October 15.

Also in Pennsylvania, an Erie County court ordered officials to address the issue of nearly 20,000 mail ballots that were not sent to voters to fill out and submit by the state’s election deadline. In addition, at least 365 voters received ballots with the same barcode as someone else. The court also ordered additional ballots to be prepared for people to vote in person on November 5, in response to many problems with mail ballot delivery.

"Wave" of lawsuits

The Pennsylvania developments are part of a growing chorus of complaints and lawsuits over ballots this election cycle. Legal experts say there could be a “wave” of lawsuits pouring into courts at all levels. After the 2020 election, Mr. Trump and his allies filed more than 60 lawsuits in hopes of overturning the results, many of them focusing on allegations of voter fraud. Some of the lawsuits were taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court declined to hear them.

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According to the US litigation tracker Democracy Docket , state and federal courts have received about 196 election-related lawsuits in 40 states this year. Of these, the Republican National Committee is involved in dozens of lawsuits that the unit claims are aimed at ensuring election transparency.

Reuters on November 1 quoted US election lawyer Jason Torchinsky, who has represented several Republicans, as saying that lawsuits that failed in lower courts would have difficulty being accepted by the Supreme Court.

Trump, Harris campaign together in the city

CNN reported that the two US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris stopped in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) on November 1 to attract voters in the battleground state. Both delivered campaign messages and urged people to vote. This was the second appearance of both Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris in Wisconsin in a week, and also the last time in this battleground state before Election Day on November 5.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phan-quyet-moi-truoc-them-bau-cu-tong-thong-my-18524110221440743.htm