The Trump presidential campaign with the Republican National Committee and the Nevada Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the state of Nevada for allowing mail-in ballots to be counted four days after Election Day.
Trump Campaign Sues Nevada Over Law Allowing Mail Ballots To Be Counted 4 Days After Election https://t.co/p5fnIm6fK8 pic.twitter.com/hajGkfY4HR
— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) May 4, 2024
The lawsuit challenges a Nevada law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted if they are postmarked before the end of Election Day and arrive up to four days after the election day.
The Trump campaign and the Republican organizations argue that the law violates federal election law. They also said that it is disproportionately harmful to Republicans.
“Nevada’s ballot receipt deadline clearly violates federal law and undermines election integrity in the state. Ballots received days after Election Day should not be counted — the RNC and our partners are suing to secure an honest election, support Nevada voters, and oppose unlawful schemes,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley said.
One of the issues the plaintiffs raised is the Nevada law that allows the counting of ballots with illegible postmarks. The law said that a “mail ballot shall be deemed to have been postmarked on or before the day of the election” if the postmark is not legible and was received before 5 p.m. on the third day after election day.
The plaintiffs argue that this law allows timely and valid ballots to be diluted by untimely and invalid ballots.
“The result of Nevada’s violation of federal law is that timely, valid ballots are diluted by untimely, invalid ballots, which violates the rights of candidates, campaigns, and voters under federal law. Counting mail ballots received after Election Day doesn’t just dilute the valid ballots — it specifically and disproportionately harms Republican candidates and voters,” the lawsuit says.
With the legal action, plaintiffs are hoping to block state election officials from counting ballots which come in after Election Day in November.
The suit, which names Democratic Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and the county clerks and registers of Washoe and Clark County, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Nevada.
In response to the lawsuit, Agellar said, “Our office will not comment on ongoing litigation, but I hope the RNC is putting as much time and energy into educating voters on how to participate in elections as they put into suing the state of Nevada.”
