The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals just made a ruling that could take the country and turn it on its head. It all depends on what happens on Election Day.
Typically the State of North Carolina will count absentee ballots that arrive up to three days after the day of the election. However, last month the State Board of Elections voted to extend the timeframe that would allow ballots to be counted up until November 12.
From Politico:
In a ruling released Tuesday night, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 12-3 to deny an emergency stay that GOP legislative leaders sought to reimpose the ordinary, three-days-after-Election-Day rule.
The Richmond-based appeals court issued no majority opinion explaining its decision, but backers and opponents of the ruling filed 45 pages of opinions jousting and wrangling over the legal issues, often in a vitriolic tone not commonly seen in such courts.
The vote, 12-3, wasn’t divided among party lines, in fact, three of the judges that sided with Democrat-appointed judges were appointed by President Trump himself.
The dissenting judges suggested those who were against the extension immediately go to the Supreme Court.
Judges J. Harvie Wilkinson and Steven Agee wrote, “This case presents a clean opportunity for the Supreme Court to right the abrogation of a clear constitutional mandate and to impart to the federal elections process a strong commitment to the rule of law. Allowing the Board’s changes to go into effect now, two weeks before the election and after half a million people have voted in North Carolina, would cause yet further intolerable chaos.”
“We urge plaintiffs to take this case up to the Supreme Court immediately,” urged the dissenting judges. “Not tomorrow. Not the next day. Now.”
If the election comes under dispute in North Carolina this ruling could potentially throw the country into chaos. The ruling would make it so Americans would have to wait until at least November 12 to know who is their president.
