I know you're all just dying to hear my take on this deadlock in the Supreme Court. That was sarcasm, btw, so save your hate tweets for lower in this thread. I just want to give my perspective for those who want to engage in the debate. https://www.dailywire.com/news/roberts-sides-with-liberals-scotus-allows-pa-to-accept-ballots-three-days-late

For those of you not following this, the 4-4 tie kicks the decision back to the lower court's ruling. The lower court had ruled that ballots could be accepted up to three days after the election.

This aspect of the ruling isn't that troublesome, depending on what state you live in. Hang with me, conservatives. I'll get to what is troublesome in a moment. Actually, it should be troublesome to those on the left, too.

In ND, for example, our absentee judges will still be counting ballots on the 4th. I believe my county asked for an extension from the Gov, so they could continue to count ballots for a couple more days, but I haven't heard whether he granted it or not.

The purpose of the extension isn't so that people can continue to vote. It's so that the absentee judges don't have to work through the night. Yes, a few more ballots may be received after the 4th, but in my state it's the postmark that matters.

I believe, even if the Gov were to grant the extension, if they finish counting by the 4th, our elections board would probably set those ballots aside for the canvassing board to decide what to do with them.

So long as a ballot is postmarked by election day and received by the county elections board before continue ends, it is counted. To me, this makes sense. if you didn't get your ballot mailed by election day, too damn bad.

My only quibble with this is that I think you might be able to drop your ballot off at the PO after the polls closed and still get it postmarked. (the way you can drop your taxes off until midnight.)

That's a PROBLEM because it means you can wait until the returns come in to decide if you still need to vote.

We have laws that prevent states from reporting returns until CA polls close. Shouldn't we have laws that prevent the Post Office from processing ballots that come in after the polls close?

Anyway, as I understand this ruling, it does NOT require PA to accept ballots that are postmarked after the 3rd. It's more a matter of extending the number of days the PO has to deliver them. (OK, I know there's all kinds of opportunity for fraud right there.)

I'm willing to be told I'm wrong about this, but PLEASE provide evidence. Media reporting does not count as proof unless they use a credible source. I'm not interested in their opinions of what the ruling says because they never seem to get the details right.

If I am wrong, this is a problem of massive proportions for BOTH parties. It means that people can continue to vote after election day and a tentative winner has been declared. That's not right on any level.

The problem with this ruling, as I understand it, is that the court has decreed that PA must accept ballots where the postmark is not discernible. Either it doesn't have one or it can't be read.

I've done enough ballot canvassing to know that ballots don't always have a postmark. It doesn't happen frequently, but it does happen. My concern is that it will happen more often in this election. In addition to absentee ballots, we've now encouraged people to vote by mail.

In ND, our canvassing board goes through ballots that don't meet the criteria, including those that are postmarked after the 3rd. This board is staffed by an equal number from both parties. Usually, we unanimously decide to not count those with a postmark after election day.

For those that aren't postmarked, we usually vote to accept them so long as they are received by election day. (The elections board tracks when they receive bundles of ballots.)

The decision is often split on those that aren't postmarked and are received after election day. Normally, they aren't counted, but sometimes there can be extenuating circumstances, such as a mistake made by the elections board. In those cases, we typically side with the voter.

For those of you who have made it to the end of this thread, I thank you for your indulgence!