As one of 18 states and Washington, D.C. that accepted and tabulated ballots post-election, North Dakota is being sued for its acceptance of mail-in ballots 13 days after Election Day.
The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday against North Dakota State Election Director Erika White, alleges that the state’s law to accept ballots up to 13 days after Election Day violates federal law.
Full file below:
In North Dakota, absentee votes must be postmarked the day before election day and delivered before the county canvassing board meets on the 13th day following the election in order to be counted. According to PILF, the state statute was modified in 2021 to increase the 6-day window of time following the election during which ballots might be accepted to 13 days.
The lawsuit asserts that Election Day is one day in accordance with federal law.
The filing states, “Federal law prescribes votes to be tabulated on Election Day, as every mention of the day is singular, and not plural.”
The Public Interest Legal Foundation filed the lawsuit on behalf of Burleigh County Auditor Mark Splonskowski.
North Dakota which is a red state, with Sen. John Hoeven (R) winning reelection in 2022 with 56.5% of the vote, over the Democratic nominee who received 25%, and the independent with 18.5%.
The state was won by incumbent President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election with 65.5% of the vote against then-Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden’s 31.9%. A supermajority of Republicans also control the state legislature.
Additionally, the governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, is a GOP presidential primary contender in 2024.
The states and one U.S. city which accepted ballots after Election Day include: Alaska, California, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
The states with the latest deadlines for accepting ballots after Election Day are Illinois and Utah, which are both 14 days.
“Election Day has ceased to be a day,” says PILF President J. Christian Adams. “Instead, we have election month because states accept ballots that arrive days and even weeks after Election Day.
“Not only does this lead to distrust and chaos in the system, but it also violates federal law. PILF is fighting to end this lawlessness and restore the day in Election Day.”
The electoral integrity group questioned why the results of the 2022 election took so long considering it wasn’t a pandemic election like the one in 2020, according to Lauren Bis, director of Communications and Engagement at PILF, in an interview with Just the News on Monday.
Rep. John Duarte’s (R-Calif.) victory in the last U.S. House election in 2022 was declared on December 2 without the need for a recount. Ten days later, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)’s recount confirmed her victory.
The case, meanwhile, is not just about the elections from the previous year.
Attempts to reach the Elections Unit of the North Dakota Secretary of State on Monday for comment were unsuccessful.
Post-pandemic delays persisted despite advances in technology and communication, according to Bis.
PILF realized that the delays were because “states are accepting ballots after Election Day” and receiving more mail-in ballots now than they did pre-pandemic, she also said.
“When elections drag on, voters see their candidate winning, then a week later, every day the candidate’s lead is chipped away,” Bis said. She also argued the situation “sows distrust in the process, is corrosive and divisive to the nation” when it “doesn’t need to be that way.”
Bis said that “a lot of states had laws for a while” with post-Election Day deadlines for mail-in ballots, but that the delays were the result of the expansion of vote-by-mail during the pandemic, and as some states have all mail-in voting.
The state jumped from “worst to first” in its election results, she said, since Florida mandates that absentee ballots be returned by Election Day.
While Judicial Watch is suing the Illinois State Board of Elections for accepting ballots for 14 days after Election Day, PILF is suing North Dakota. The current case also asserts that Election Day must be a single day in accordance with federal law.
Bis said that the plaintiff is “seeking clarity about his obligations” in his capacity as the county auditor “because he has to choose to violate state or federal law” while administering elections.
As the U.S. is “one of the best democratic republics in world,” Americans “can’t have our elections being a laughingstock,” Bis said.
“Let’s fix the problem” and have election results by election night or next morning at the latest, she also said.
SOURCES: CNN, AP, LAWSUIT, JUDICIAL WATCH, DEMOCRACY DOCKET
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