Why the Supreme Court let some states count mail-in ballots received after Election Day but not others
On the face of it sometimes the orders seemed contradictory. In North Carolina, ballots can arrive up to nine days after Election Day; in Pennsylvania, ballots can arrive up to three days late — for now; and in Wisconsin, the court said ballots must be in by election night.
Some themes have emerged. It is now clear that four conservative justices are ready to take a sharp right turn when it comes to the power of state legislatures to set the rules for elections. In addition, Chief Justice John Roberts served as swing vote at times, but still worked to preserve the court’s institutional legitimacy, and the liberals on the bench again expressed their fear that the pandemic could disenfranchise voters in some states.
All the while, Barrett, Trump’s latest justice, has stayed out of the political fray for the moment.
Wisconsin: Mail-in ballots must be received by Election Day
Here, Roberts’ role was critical, and he sided with the other four conservatives (the ruling came down before Barrett joined the bench). He explained that the federal district court had “intervened in the thick of election season” and intruded on the state lawmaking processes — which didn’t allow for extending the mail-in deadline. The court made clear that federal courts shouldn’t interfere to change state election rules so close to the election.
“The Constitution provides that state legislatures — not federal judges, not state judges, not state governors, not other state officials — bear primary responsibility for setting election rules,” Gorsuch wrote. That would make a big difference in post-election challenges particularly if the legislature and governor are from different parties. It conceives of a more robust role for the Supreme Court when reviewing lower courts.
Kavanaugh went farther. Echoing Trump, he said states are within their rights to set Election Day deadlines “to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results of an election.”
The three liberals were left to stress that the courts had stepped in because of the pandemic and they feared voters would be disenfranchised during the pandemic.
Pennsylvania: Mail-in ballots can arrive up to three days after Election Day — for now
In Pennsylvania, the circumstances were different, and the case came up to the court twice. Unlike Wisconsin, where the lower court challenges played out in a federal court, here a Pennsylvania state Supreme Court decision was central to the challenge. That state court had allowed mail in ballots to count if they are received within three days after the election — even without a legible November 3 postmark.
Republicans asked the court to step in to reinstate an Election Day deadline, but on October 19, the court announced it was deadlocked 4-4, meaning the three-day extension could stand.
Barrett was not yet on the bench and Roberts was the swing vote, this time siding with liberals. Roberts sees a difference in how state and federal courts should look at an issue. As he said in the Wisconsin case: state courts may have authority to apply their own Constitutions, but federal courts shouldn’t intrude too close to an election.
But Alito noted that Pennsylvania has agreed to segregate the votes that could be in play for the election — those that arrive after Election Day until three days afterwards — and didn’t foreclose a challenge after the election that would only likely occur in the rarest of circumstances.
“There is a strong likelihood that the State Supreme Court decision violates the Federal Constitution,” Alito said.
If that line of reasoning prevails — that state courts are usurping the authority of state legislatures to set the rules — it could have vast post-election consequences when it comes to ballot counting and other disputes.
North Carolina: Mail-in ballots can arrive up to nine days after Election Day
The state legislature had established a three-day extension for mail-in ballots in June, but later a federal appeals court had allowed the nine-day extension that was set by the State Board of Elections amidst the pandemic, as part of a legal settlement.
What’s unknown is the vote of Roberts and Kavanaugh. It is possible the vote was split 4-4, and Kavanaugh agreed not to note his vote to highlight the deadlock, but when the court issues orders such as this one, only justices who wish to publicly note their dissents are named.
Gorsuch, joined by Alito, echoed what he had said in the Wisconsin case: the power of the state legislature to set election rules.
The Barrett factor
What remains unclear going forward is the Barrett factor.
By saying she was not read in enough to vote on the cases, Barrett shielded herself from criticism that her very first votes on the bench went to the heart of politics, especially given her contentious nomination process and arrival on the bench just before the election.
It was a move likely endorsed by the chief justice who cares deeply about protecting the institutional concerns of the court.