Voting-rights disputes in virus era spark court battles

Wisconsin's chaotic primary may just be beginning. Both major parties are preparing for a monthslong, state-by-state legal fight over how citizens can safely cast ir ballots should coronavirus outbreak persist through vember's election.

outcome of court battles — expected to litigate mail-in voting rules, voter identification requirements and safe access to polls — may have a significant impact on how many people turn out to vote in hundreds of elections across country, including White House race. It will likely play out in presidential battlegrounds amid an alrey roiling debate over voting rights and protecting access to ballot.

“We have alrey seen more litigation, even before COVID, than ever before in 2020,” said Marc Elias, a prominent attorney who represents Democratic Party on voting issues. “What COVID has done is ded fuel to that fire.”

Elias said he expects to file lawsuits within coming weeks against states that Democrats argue haven't taken equate steps to protect voters and poll workers during outbreak. party is pushing steps to make it simpler to request and return mail-in ballots.

Republicans are rey to fight back. President Donald Trump has alrey tried to portray voting by mail as suspicious and warned that it could le to so many people voting that “you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.” Republican National Committee will spend some of $10 million it set aside for presidential-year election-related litigation to fight back against Democratic lawsuits over virus.

Tuesday’s presidential primary in Wisconsin was a preview of confusion court fights can cause. After Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tried to delay election at last minute, a court initially postponed and tweaked rules for contest, only to have U.S. Supreme Court on Monday night reinstate many of original rules and election.

election went on as planned — although Milwaukee opened just five of its 180 in-person polling places after hundreds of poll workers declined to show up. Voters cast ballots while wearing protective masks and stood in long lines, trying to keep a safe distance in a state where virus has killed 92 people.

Only five states send ballots to all voters to be returned through mail. Roughly one-third of states require a formal excuse to procure an absentee ballot that can be sent in remotely, including swing state of New Hampshire, which has yet to designate pandemic as a legitimate reason to get a mail ballot. Or states crucial to presidential contest, like Wisconsin and rth Carolina, require a witness to sign an application for a mail ballot — a requirement that can be difficult to meet for voters in quarantine.

In Texas, state Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit seeking to allow pandemic to qualify as a legitimate excuse for any voter seeking an absentee ballot. Republican National Committee, meanwhile, helped New Mexico Republicans try to stop that state's Supreme Court from allowing a request by county clerks to turn ir June primary into an all-mail event.

party argues that such changes are premature and, in some cases, unworkable.

“Imposing a new system onto states unnecessarily will result in significant problems in vember election, and it is critical we work to preserve integrity of democratic process,” said RNC spokeswoman Mandi Merritt.

Trump campaign has laid down markers on what sort of changes it expects state Republicans to fight. Vote-by-mail options can "play a role during a pandemic by enabling at-risk voters to vote safely,” legal counsel Justin Clark said in a statement.

But, Clark ded, “states should resist proposals that open door to voting fraud such as mailing ballots to voters who haven’t asked for one.” tably, some Republican secretaries of state, such as in Iowa and Ohio, have alrey moved to send mail ballots out widely.

brewing legal fight comes as Democrats' efforts to mandate -excuse mail-in voting have fizzled in Congress.

Senate Republicans prevented measures from making it into stimulus bill passed last month. Democratic leers said Wisconsin primary strengned ir resolve to try again in next bill, but voting rights groups are pessimistic that will succeed.

Inste, vocates are trying to secure more funding for local elections offices. y got $400 million in last stimulus but estimate at least $1.6 billion more would be needed to enable states to prepare for a rically changed voting landscape in vember.

“Making sure that our elections can be conducted fully and fairly is a very high priority for us," Senate Mirity Leer Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday.

Still, voting rights vocates believe more litigation is inevitable as parties look closely at vote-by-mail procedures. Elias said Democrats are pushing for some standards, including a post-paid return envelope, counting ballots postmarked by Election Day, allowing voters to resolve issues arising from questions about a signature and allowing groups to drop off and collect mail ballots from voters.

Democrats argue latter provision, dubbed “ballot harvesting,” is essential for elderly voters and ors isolated by pandemic. But it's ar red line for Trump campaign.

Trump complained Tuesday that Democrats wanted to extend time for mail ballots to come in.

“w, mail ballots, y cheat, OK? People cheat. Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country,” said president, who requested an absentee mail-in-ballot last month for Florida’s primary.

Rick Hasen, an election law professor at University of California-Irvine, said he expects “a lot of litigation, especially in states that offer excuse absentee balloting.” But, he ded, fighting over elections was alrey going to be intense before outbreak.

Hasen tracks election litigation and said it soared to a high record in 2018 — an unusual mark for a npresidential year. “Part of it is hyperpolarization,” Hasen said. “Part of it is that we have a lot of close elections, and people realize that, in really close elections, rules matter."