(ProsperNews.net) – Republicans have filed a lawsuit against Nevada for allowing mail-in ballots received more than four days after the election to be counted. The Republican National Committee (RNC) has partnered with the Nevada Republican Party to file a suit against Democratic Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and Washoe and Clark County clerks and registers. It claims rules allowing the inclusion of ballots postmarked before the end of November 5 but which arrive up to four days afterward violate federal law and disproportionately impact Republicans.
RNC chair Michael Whatley said any ballots received after election day should not be counted, and the RNC would do all in its power to ensure election integrity in the Silver State.
Nevada law, passed by a Democrat-led legislature in 2021, allows ballots received up to four days after the election to be included and assumes that envelopes with unclear postmarked dates were sent on time and, therefore, are also counted.
The Nevada lawsuit is one of several filed by Republicans hoping to maintain strict deadlines on mail-in voting. In February, the RNC filed a similar case against Mississippi, which also counts ballots received after election day if they are postmarked before. Last year, the GOP challenged the same policy in North Dakota.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 states accept mail-in ballots after election day, including California, which counts votes received up to a week after the election, and Illinois, which accepts them for up to two weeks.
In Nevada, Republicans argue that including post-election day votes dilutes the authority of votes cast on the day, making the process unconstitutional. In response, Democrat Francisco Aguilar said he hopes Republicans are putting the same effort into educating citizens about their voting rights “as they put into suing the state of Nevada.”
The Silver State is expected to be closely fought in November, but several polls show that Donald Trump has a healthy lead over President Biden.
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