Thanks to readers of this blog, contributions to the Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE) have recently been generous, so that the cert petition in Buscemi v Bell can go forward. This is the case in which the Fourth Circuit upheld the March 3 petition deadline for independent presidential candidates in North Carolina, despite the U.S. Supreme Court having ruled in Anderson v Celebrezze that Ohio’s March 20 deadline is too early.
Thomson Reuters has this article raising the possibility that some presidential electors in 2020 might vote for someone in the electoral college who is not the individual who won the popular vote in that elector’s state. There are many articles every day this month warning about the dangers of electoral chaos next month, but generally these other news stories don’t mention faithless electors.
The Anchorage Daily News has this lengthy story about the Alaskan Independence Party, which is much more active in elections this year than it has been in the recent past. Thanks to Scott Kohlhaas for the link.
On October 19, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop the Pennsylvania Supreme Court order that allowed postal ballots to be received as late as three days after election day. The vote was 4-4. On a tie vote, the lower court opinion stands. Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the three Democratic appointees.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party had argued that the U.S. Constitution allows the state legislature to set the rules, which means that state courts and governors have no role in setting rules for presidential elections. There were two cases on the same issue. Republican Party of Pennsylvania v Boockvar, 20A54; and Scarnati v Boockvar. 20A53.
On the evening of October 19, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that microphones will be muted for one or the other candidates at times, for the October 22 Trump-Biden debate. See this story.
