Court battles shift mail-in voting deadlines in battleground states Michigan and Pennsylvania
18 September 2020
Michigan joins Pennsylvania in extending mail-in ballot deadlines by several days after the election, due to the coronavirus pandemic and expected delays in U.S. Postal Service.
The latest: Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens ruled that all ballots postmarked before Nov. 2 must be counted, so long as they arrive in the mail before election results are certified. Michigan will certify its general election results on Nov. 23.
Why it matters: Official results in most states are not certified until several weeks after Election Day, this ruling could improve voter turnout, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Details: Stephens made the ruling, which is likely to be appealed, in a lawsuit brought by the Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans
- Stephens said she heard evidence of ballots in the August primaries being routed out of state, which contributed to the "over 6.400 otherwise valid ballots that were rejected for having been received after the Election Day receipt deadline."
- Stephens ruled that absentee voters could get transportation from anyone to return their ballots to local clerks.
- She also wrote in her decision that "incidences of voter fraud and absentee ballot fraud are minimal and that the fears of the same are largely exaggerated."
- Michigan's Republican-led House and Senate, the Michigan Republican Party, and the Republican National Committee have sought to intervene in the case, but their appeal options remain unclear, according to the Free Press.
What they're saying: The ruling is "especially critical for the 1.6 million Michigan voters who are over the age of 65 and whose health is most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Free Press reported Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, as saying.
Go deeper: When and how to vote in all 50 states
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.