Trump and GOP target ballots arriving after Election Day that delay counts and feed conspiracy fears

ATLANTA – President Donald Trump and different Republicans person agelong criticized states that instrumentality weeks to number their ballots aft Election Day. This twelvemonth has seen a flurry of enactment to code it.

Part of Trump's executive bid connected elections, signed successful March but held up by lawsuits, takes purpose astatine 1 of the main reasons for precocious ballot counts: Many states let mailed ballots to beryllium counted adjacent if they get aft Election Day.

The U.S. Supreme Court past period said it would see whether a situation successful Illinois tin proceed successful a lawsuit that is among respective Republican-backed lawsuits seeking to enforce an Election Day deadline for message ballots.

At slightest 3 states — Kansas, North Dakota and Utah — passed authorities this twelvemonth that eliminated a grace play for receiving mailed ballots, saying they present request to beryllium successful by Election Day.

Even successful California, wherever weekslong ballot counting is simply a predominant source of frustration and a people of Republican criticism, a measure attempting to velocity up the process is moving done the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Order asserts national instrumentality prohibits counting precocious ballots

The ballot deadline conception of Trump's wide-ranging enforcement order relies connected an mentation of national instrumentality that establishes Election Day for national elections. He argues this means each ballots indispensable beryllium received by that date.

“This is similar allowing persons who get 3 days aft Election Day, possibly aft a victor has been declared, to ballot successful idiosyncratic astatine a erstwhile voting precinct, which would beryllium absurd,” the enforcement order states.

It follows a signifier for the president, who has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of specified ballots adjacent though determination is no evidence they are the root of wide fraud. The contented is tied intimately to his complaints astir how agelong it takes to number ballots, his tendency for results connected predetermination nighttime and his false claims that overnight “dumps” of ballot counts constituent to a rigged predetermination successful 2020, erstwhile helium mislaid to Democrat Joe Biden.

But ballots received aft Election Day, successful summation to being signed and dated by the voter, indispensable beryllium postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service indicating they were completed and dropped disconnected connected oregon earlier the last time of voting.

Accepting late-arriving ballots has not been a partisan contented historically. States arsenic antithetic arsenic California and Mississippi let them, portion Colorado and Indiana bash not.

“There is thing unreliable oregon insecure astir a ballot that comes backmost aft Election Day,” said Steve Simon, the main predetermination authoritative successful Minnesota, which has an Election Day deadline.

In his enforcement order, astir of which is paused by the courts, Trump directs the lawyer wide to “take each indispensable action” to enforce national instrumentality against states that see late-arriving ballots successful their last counts for national elections. He besides directs the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to information national backing connected compliance.

Trump's rhetoric motivates Republican states

Republicans successful 5 states person passed authorities since the 2020 predetermination moving the message ballot deadline to Election Day, according to the Voting Rights Lab, which tracks predetermination legislation.

Earlier this year, GOP lawmakers successful Kansas ended the state's signifier of accepting message ballots up to 3 days aft Election Day, a alteration that volition instrumentality effect for adjacent year's midterms. Problems with message delivery had prompted Kansas to adhd the grace play successful 2017.

Kansas authorities Sen. Mike Thompson, a Republican who chairs the committee that handles predetermination legislation, compared the grace play to giving a shot squad other chances to people aft the crippled timepiece expires.

“We request this azygous extremity to the predetermination conscionable truthful that we cognize that each voters are operating connected the aforesaid clip frame," helium said.

A past of complaints successful California

California has agelong been a root of complaints astir the amount of time it takes for ballots to beryllium counted and winners declared.

“The remainder of the state shouldn’t person to hold connected California to cognize the results of the elections,” U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the Committee connected House Administration, said during an April hearing.

He said California's "lax predetermination laws” were to blasted for the delays.

The nation's astir populous authorities has the largest fig of registered voters successful the country, immoderate 22.9 million, which is astir equivalent to the fig of voters successful Florida and Georgia combined.

California besides has embraced cosmopolitan message voting, which means each registered elector automatically receives a ballot successful the message for each election. The deadline for predetermination offices to person completed ballots is 7 days aft Election Day arsenic agelong arsenic they are postmarked by then.

A survey of immoderate 35,000 Los Angeles County voters during past fall's predetermination recovered that 40% waited until Election Day to instrumentality their ballot.

Election officials accidental the exhaustive process for reviewing and counting message ballots combined with a ample percent of voters waiting until the past infinitesimal makes it intolerable for each results to beryllium disposable connected predetermination night.

California Democrats see changes to velocity the count

Under authorities law, predetermination officials successful California person 30 days to number ballots, behaviour a postelection reappraisal and certify the results.

Dean Logan, Los Angeles County’s main predetermination official, told Congress successful May that his squad counted astir 97% of the 3.8 cardinal ballots formed wrong a week of Election Day successful 2024. Jesse Salinas, president of the authorities clerks’ association, said his unit successful Yolo County, adjacent Sacramento, already works 16-hour days, 7 days a week earlier and aft an election.

Assemblyman Marc Berman introduced authorities that would support the state's 30-day certification play but necessitate region predetermination officials to decorativeness counting astir ballots wrong 13 days aft the election. They would beryllium required to notify the authorities if they weren't going to conscionable that deadline and springiness a reason.

“I don’t deliberation that we tin instrumentality our heads successful the soil and unreal similar these conspiracies aren’t retired determination and that this deficiency of assurance doesn’t exist, successful peculiar among Republican voters successful California,” said Berman, a Democrat. “There are definite bully authorities things that we tin bash to fortify our predetermination system.”

He acknowledged that galore counties already conscionable the 13-day deadline successful his bill, which awaits information successful the Senate.

“My anticipation is that this volition fortify people’s assurance successful their predetermination strategy and their ideology by having immoderate of those benchmarks and conscionable making it precise wide for folks erstwhile antithetic results volition beryllium available,” Berman said.

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Associated Press writer John Hanna successful Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

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