BREAKING: SCOTUS reinstates witness requirement for South Carolina mail-in ballots, blocking lower court order that had waived requirement due to COVID-19.
No noted dissents. Justice Kavanaugh is the only justice to explain his reasoning in this concurrence 
Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch would have reinstated the witness req. for all ballots. But the majority waived that requirement for ballots that have already gone into the mail and are received by this Wednesday.
The reasoning in Kavanaugh‘s concurrence matches the position the Supreme Court has fashioned for many or all of these election-related disputes: states get to set the rules, not judges.
The upshot: Democrats seeking judicial relief in lower courts to ease voting rules in light of the pandemic will likely be disappointed once the Supreme Court has its say.
It seems voting will be easier and more ballots will be counted in blue states (those w Democratic legislatures & governors) than in red states.
This is the Supreme Court’s way of trying to be a neutral arbiter. But the implications will be anything but neutral.
This is the Supreme Court’s way of trying to be a neutral arbiter. But the implications will be anything but neutral.
Hard to tell if the trio of liberal justices are on board with this. They may have voted to deny the stay and opted not to make that public. Or there may be a broad consensus that this hands-off no-judicial-relief approach is the best path through the electoral minefield.
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