Legal fights inject chaos into states’ absentee ballotsLawsuits being fought across the country are colliding with state deadlines to mail absentee ballots to voters, creating delays and stirring up new uncertainty over the ability of major swing states to handle the anticipated surge of mail-in ballots this fall.
In Pennsylvania, ongoing lawsuits over the Green Party candidate appearing on the ballot have prevented counties from sending mail-in ballots to voters. Wisconsin narrowly avoided absentee ballot chaos on Monday in a 4-3 state Supreme Court decision preventing the need for counties to reprint hundreds of thousands of ballots set to be mailed this week.
There also are several states fighting over absentee ballot applications that were mailed to voters, in some cases forcing voters to reapply to receive an absentee ballot.
The sprawling election litigation stretching from coast-to-coast underscores the contentious nature of an election being conducted in the midst of a pandemic, which has prompted many states to change their election rules. But the lawsuits also can have real-world side effects as voters have less time to return ballots ahead of an Election Day where going to the polls is as complicated as ever.
“We’re going to see higher turnout than we’ve ever seen before in the middle of the pandemic. It’s important for voters to get as much time as possible and do it early, and if ballots aren’t printed yet that’s impossible,†said David Becker, founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.
Election lawsuits aren’t the only source of confusion surrounding absentee voting. The US Postal Service sent a mailer to all households across the country about mail-in voting that contained inaccurate information, leading a bipartisan array of election officials to publicly rebuke the mailers.................
https://www.winknews.com/2020/09/15/legal-fights-inject-chaos-into-states-absentee-ballots/
