Why critics find Kavanaugh's Wisconsin mail-in voting opinion 'sloppy'
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Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's critics are perplexed by his concurring opinion following the court's 5-3 ruling that Wisconsin can only count absentee ballots that arrive by Election Day, describing his reasoning as "sloppy."
One of the accusations hurled at Kavanaugh is that he confused receipt and submission deadlines while making his point. The Wisconsin case involved extending the former in light of U.S. Postal Service slowdowns, but Kavanaugh's analogies appeared more congruent with the latter.
This analogy makes no sense. The WI deadline is receipt deadline, not a submission deadline. The in-person voting equivalent is if someone showed up at their polling place before it officially closed but — due to long lines — didn’t get to cast their ballot until after midnight. pic.twitter.com/q26z0vctGa
— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney_Megan) October 27, 2020
Another analogy that makes no sense! The IRS April 15 deadline is a submission deadline, not a receipt deadline. pic.twitter.com/UU3Lngl55V
— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney_Megan) October 27, 2020
Kavanaugh was also criticized for his stance that the deadline should remain intact so that the "apparent winner" on the morning after election night doesn't have their victory overturned by late-arriving ballots, which could spark allegations of a "rigged election." In response, observers argued that declaring an election winner on Nov. 3 isn't necessary and that it's reasonable for close races in states to remain uncalled.
Still stuck on this Kavanaugh concurrence claiming that states announce the winner on election night. They don’t. News organizations project based on the trajectory of incoming results. And furthermore, it’s not uncommon for close races and states to be undeclared for days. https://t.co/Ivayoe6fOk
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) October 27, 2020
Finally, analysts called Kavanaugh out for apparently misreading a source that influenced his decision.
Kavanaugh ruled AGAINST the six-day extension for Wisconsin to accept ballots postmarked by Election Day. He cited an article from legal scholar (and CNN contributor) Rick Pildes. But in that article, Pildes says states SHOULD extend postmark deadlines. https://t.co/Uupirxyrgm pic.twitter.com/nEyj92Gh6p
— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) October 27, 2020
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