1/4 A line in SCOTUS order is causing confusion: "in order to be counted in this election a voter's absentee ballot must be either (i) postmarked by election day [4/7/20], & received by [4/13/20] at 4:00pm, or (ii) hand-delivered as provided under state law by [4/7/20] at 8:00pm"
2/2 At first, the line seems a SCOTUS mandate not to count any ballot beside these. But that's a misreading. First, right before this quote is a qualifier: "subject to any further alterations that the State may make to state law"; this makes clear state law can count more ballots
3/4 Plus, key operative language of SCOTUS is at start: "District Court's order granting preliminary injunction is stayed to the extent it requires the State to count absentee ballots postmarked after April 7, 2020." This shows SCOTUS is only limiting what federal court can order
4/4 It's essential to understand procedural posture of SCOTUS stay, & specific issue before SCOTUS, to see that SCOTUS is not blocking how state law counts ballots, only what federal court can order in preliminary injunction ruling. Alas, it seems like this isn't well understood
