{"id":2353528,"date":"2024-10-11T06:03:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T10:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-the-mail-in-voting-fight-in-three-key-battlegrounds-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-11T06:06:04","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T10:06:04","slug":"inside-the-mail-in-voting-fight-in-three-key-battlegrounds-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-the-mail-in-voting-fight-in-three-key-battlegrounds-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the mail-in voting fight in three key battlegrounds &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Finside-the-mail-in-voting-fight-in-three-key-battlegrounds-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2353528&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the contentious issues surrounding mail-in voting in\u200d three pivotal states\u2014Pennsylvania, Michigan, and North \u2064Carolina\u2014as the\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/i-dont-ask-him-even-trump-doesnt-know-if-desantis-is-running-in-24\/\" title=\"\u2018I Don\u2019t Ask Him\u2019: Even Trump Doesn\u2019t Know If DeSantis Is Running In \u201924\">presidential election approaches<\/a>. These states offer mail-in voting options,\u2063 which have become focal points for debates and legal challenges. Concerns raised include the integrity of mail-in ballots, specifically issues of supervision, identification verification, and signature matching. <\/p>\n<p>In Pennsylvania, \u2062a\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-takes-up-review-of-remain-in-mexico-policy\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Takes Up Review of &#039;Remain in Mexico&#039; Policy\u00a0\">legal battle ensued<\/a> regarding the state&#8217;s &#8220;notice-and-cure&#8221; procedures for problematic mail-in ballots. The state&#8217;s Supreme Court, \u2064controlled by a Democratic majority,\u2062 rejected requests from the Republican National Committee to curtail these procedures, allowing counties to continue \u2064notifying voters about ballot issues.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan sees significant \u2063mail-in voting interest, with over 2 million requests, but it is heavily scrutinized by Republicans\u200c who\u2062 have pushed back against the guidance of\u2063 the state&#8217;s election officials concerning ballot verification processes. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, North Carolina faces \u2064complications due to Hurricane\u200b Helene, which has disrupted voting logistics in the western part of the \u2062state. The state&#8217;s election board is seeking \u2063solutions to enable voters to \u2063cast their ballots amid these challenges. the article highlights \u200dhow these\u2062 mail-in voting processes could influence the election outcomes in these contested battlegrounds.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Inside the mail-in voting fight in three key battlegrounds<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1768675\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>States in play for both candidates in this year&rsquo;s&nbsp;presidential <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2024-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">election<\/a>&nbsp;all allow voters to cast their ballots&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mail-in-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">by mail<\/a>, a process that has attracted controversies and legal battles in the final weeks of campaigning. That includes Pennsylvania, Michigan, and North Carolina &mdash; each of which has seen concerns raised over absentee ballots.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>These <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/swing-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>swing states<\/a> see varying degrees of mail-in voting, and campaigns, political operatives, and election policy hawks are closely tracking the vote-by-mail process because of how it could affect the election outcome.<\/p>\n<p>Attorney Chad Ennis, vice president of the Honest Elections Project, highlighted some of the top concerns he has seen regarding ballots sent through the mail.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The primary problem with mail voting is that it occurs outside of the supervision of election officials,&rdquo; Ennis told the <em>Washington Examiner.<\/em> &ldquo;There is always a question of who actually filled out the ballot. We do have safeguards in place. But those safeguards &mdash; ID numbers, signature matching, witnesses, etc. &mdash; are under constant attack by the Left.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Requests for mail-in ballots have plummeted since 2020, when many states eased their voting policies in response to concerns about COVID-19. Still, according to data analyst John Couvillon, states <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WinWithJMC\/status\/1844193546703888531\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>including<\/a> Michigan, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Ohio have seen one million or more mail-in ballot requests, meaning these ballots could make or break races.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FILE &ndash; Chester County, Pa., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mailing-it-in-swing-state-ballot-lawsuits-could-shape-2024-presidential-race-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Swing State Ballot Lawsuits May Impact 2024 Presidential Race - Washington Examiner\">election workers process mail-<\/a>in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa., Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In North Carolina, where mail-in voting is less abundant, questions persist about whether voters who have requested mail-in ballots will be able to physically receive them after Hurricane Helene unexpectedly decimated the state&rsquo;s Asheville region.<\/p>\n<p>Below is a look at mail-in voting controversies in three key states with high electoral counts.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pennsylvania<\/h2>\n<p>The Republican National Committee asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to stop the state&rsquo;s 67 counties from issuing &ldquo;notice-and-cure&rdquo; procedures for mail-in ballots, but the state&rsquo;s highest court, which has a Democratic majority, rejected the request this month.<\/p>\n<p>The RNC had sought to rein in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/controversial-wisconsin-clerk-admits-to-violating-election-law-claims-she-doesnt-understand-it\/\" title=\"Wisconsin Clerk Admits Breaking Election Law, Cites Lack of Understanding\">ballot curing process<\/a> in the Keystone State, where county election boards have significant discretion over accepting mail ballots and allowing voters to correct defective ones by submitting provisional ballots.<\/p>\n<p>The RNC called it a &ldquo;patchwork&rdquo; of procedures and said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Pennsylvania\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Pennsylvania<\/a> lacked uniformity on how it handled mail-in ballot curing. The committee said that recent statewide communication from the secretary of state about voters&rsquo; ballot curing rights could cause confusion because of the county-level variations.<\/p>\n<p>The state Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision meant that all counties could continue to use their discretion to notify voters if their mail-in ballots have problems and give the voters a chance to fix them. Defects on mail-in ballots have included missing dates, signature discrepancies, and envelope problems.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania has nearly 9 million registered voters, and in 2020, Trump lost the state by about 80,000 votes. <\/p>\n<p>According to Couvillon&rsquo;s data, Pennsylvania has seen a dramatic drop in mail-in ballot requests, but more than 1.6 million voters have requested them so far, meaning even a small fraction of provisional ballots could shift the results.<\/p>\n<p>Henry Olsen, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, noted that in Pennsylvania, the presidential race could be called by 6 a.m. Wednesday after Election Day. But he cautioned that if the race is close enough and there are enough provisional ballots, that could change.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If it&rsquo;s very, very close, where the race could be decided by provisionals, we won&rsquo;t know the winner [by 6 a.m.],&rdquo; Olsen told the <em>Washington Examiner.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Michigan<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Michigan<\/a>&rsquo;s 15 electoral votes remain up for grabs, and of its 8.4 million registered voters, more than 2 million have requested mail-in ballots. About 400,000 voters have already returned those ballots, according to Couvillion&rsquo;s data.<\/p>\n<p>Olsen estimated that a substantial portion of Michiganders, about one in four, will vote by mail, and he said that while the party breakdown of who has requested mail ballots is not known in Michigan, it is clearly a &ldquo;Democrat-favored method&rdquo; there.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A mail-in official ballot for the 2024 General Election in the United States is shown, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Marple Township, Pa. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Republicans have signaled they are closely watching Michigan&rsquo;s vote-by-mail process. The RNC brought two legal fights against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, an elected Democrat, in which it meticulously nitpicked guidance she issued regarding mail-in ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Both lawsuits resulted in settlements that required Benson to update her guidance to clarify that election officials &ldquo;must,&rdquo; not &ldquo;should,&rdquo; match a number on the mailed-in ballot to a number on the envelope it arrived in.<\/p>\n<p>Benson also had to modify instructions to election workers to clarify that they were required to mark their initials next to a signature on a mail-in ballot once they verified it.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">North Carolina<\/h2>\n<p>The effects Hurricane Helene will have on voter turnout remain unknown, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/North-Carolina\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>North Carolina<\/a>&lsquo;s election board is working to find improvised ways for voters to cast ballots after some of the western portion of the state was decimated by the storm.<\/p>\n<p>In Asheville and the surrounding region, homes were wiped out, residents were displaced, and the United States Postal Service, which Ennis has said is already under scrutiny over whether it is capable of managing mail-in ballots, had to shutter dozens of its offices temporarily. Some still remain closed.<\/p>\n<p>The election board data shows that out of more than 300,000 mail-in ballots requested, 38,000 have been returned. Among the emergency measures the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-senate-candidate-pat-mccroy-brought-crt-to-north-carolina-schools\/\" title=\"GOP Senate Candidate Pat McCroy Brought CRT to North Carolina Schools\">board recently approved<\/a> was one that granted 13 counties extended deadlines and location flexibility for requesting and submitting mail-in ballots, though submitting the ballot by the end of Election Day remains a requirement.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If mail-in voting were to have any impact on North Carolina&rsquo;s election results, &ldquo;that would be a thing I would worry about if I were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Democrats<\/a>,&rdquo; Olsen said.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that mail-in voting was less favored to begin with among the red areas affected by the hurricane and that transient and mail-friendly voters in Asheville, a Democratic haven, could &ldquo;very well disproportionately affect Democrats.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1768675\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1768675\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mail-in voting in key battleground states has sparked controversies and legal disputes as the presidential election approaches. Pennsylvania, Michigan, and North Carolina allow mail ballots but face various concerns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2353529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Fundraising_Campaigns.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[33002,40638,37054,33188,32076],"class_list":["post-2353528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-battleground-states","tag-electoral-politics","tag-mail-in-voting","tag-voter-engagement","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Fundraising_Campaigns.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2353529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2353528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2353528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}