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Roy Horras, a leader for an Illinois election integrity group,
said that in a split decision, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals panel found that U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, had
no standing to challenge the provision. But now, the Fifth
Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals just ruled in a separate Judicial
Watch lawsuit that counting ballots received after Election Day
is unlawful.
"The other case, in Mississippi, they had struck down the
five-day rule. Somewhere between those two different appellate
court jurisdictions, Judicial Watch is pushing it up to the
Supreme Court to make a [uniform] judgment,” said Horras.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said Illinois’ 14-day
extension of Election Day thwarts federal law, violates the
civil rights of voters and invites fraud.
"We have a civil rights lawsuit for Mississippi voters who
object to that state counting absentee ballots for up to five
days that arrive after an election,” said Fitton. “We also have
a lawsuit in Illinois where they count ballots up to 14 days
after an election, even without a valid postmark.”
When asked about Judicial Watch’s request that the Supreme Court
review the Bost case, Illinois State Board of Elections
spokesman Matt Dietrich said the agency does not comment on
pending litigation.
Along with Bost, two presidential electors from Illinois joined
the lawsuit aiming to prevent state election officials from
extending election day for 14 days. Horras said the separate
case in Mississippi might just boost the chances the Supreme
court reviews the Illinois case.
"If two courts are hearing cases that seem to come together then
it’s more likely it’ll get pushed up to the Supreme Court,” said
Horras.
Fitton said federal law requires an "Election Day," not an
"Election Week" or "Election Month.”
“Counting ballots after election day is a great way to invite
fraud and it undermines confidence in elections and it's
downright illegal,” he said.
The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Bost had no
standing to challenge the provision, despite Judicial Watch
arguing the increased costs and injuries to him caused by the
two-week counting of ballots that arrived after election day. |
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