U.S. Legal News
October 28, 2020 5:51 PM Updated 30 minutes ago

U.S. Supreme Court deals blow to Republicans in Pennsylvania, N.Carolina vote-by-mail fights

By Andrew Chung, Lawrence Hurley
4 MIN READ

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt setbacks to Republicans by allowing extended deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots in next Tuesday’s election in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, states pivotal to President Donald Trump’s re-election chances.

The action by the justices - with their new colleague Amy Coney Barrett remaining on the sidelines - means a Sept. 17 ruling by Pennsylvania’s top court allowing mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received up to three days later to be counted will remain in place for now.

The Supreme Court already had rejected a prior Republican request to block the lower court ruling on Oct. 19. This time, the justices opted not to fast-track their consideration of an appeal of the state court ruling by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania to hear and decide the case before the election.

The conservative-majority court on Wednesday also rejected a request by Trump’s campaign to block North Carolina’s extension of the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots, in another key battleground legal loss for Republicans.

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