Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk
Welcome to Ballotpedia's Election Help Desk Newsletter. In each issue, we:
- Detail the changes to election dates and procedures since our last edition
- Track lawsuits from the presidential campaigns and major political parties
- Answer one frequently asked question about the election
- List upcoming election process dates and deadlines
We understand you may have questions about what to expect in elections at all levels of government, from the casting of ballots to the certification of final results. We are dedicated to providing you with accurate, objective, and measured answers to those questions.
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Recent news
Here are the changes made to election dates and rules since our last edition, including legal decisions, executive actions, and legislation.
Roundup
- Ohio: On Oct. 8, Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ordered Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) to allow counties to install absentee/mail-in ballot drop boxes at locations other than election board offices.
Polster wrote, "The Secretary has not advanced any legitimate reason to prohibit a county board of elections from utilizing off-site drop boxes and/or off-site delivery of ballots to staff. Voting began October 6, the Cuyahoga County board voted to begin collecting ballots at public libraries on October 14, other county boards may now vote to implement plans for off-site collection, and it is time for this litigation to end." Polster is a Bill Clinton (D) appointee.
Polster's order took effect immediately. LaRose appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. LaRose representative Maggie Sheehan said, "Voting has begun, and Ohio’s elections are safe, secure and accessible. The place to make changes in how we run our elections is the Statehouse, not the courthouse."
Lawsuits
To date, we have tracked 284 lawsuits and/or court orders involving election policy issues and the COVID-19 outbreak. Click here to view the complete list of lawsuits and court orders.
Here's the latest on noteworthy litigation. Examples of noteworthy litigation include, but are not limited to, lawsuits filed by presidential campaigns and major political parties, and cases decided by state supreme courts.
- Florida: On Oct. 9, Judge Mark E. Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida declined to extend the state's voter registration deadline.
On Oct. 5, the original voter registration deadline, technical issues with the online voter registration system prevented some people from completing the registration process. This prompted Secretary of State Laurel Lee (R) to extend the registration deadline through 7 p.m. on Oct 6.
On Oct. 6, a Broward County resident and several nonprofit groups–including Dream Defenders, New Florida Majority, Organize Florida, and the Florida Immigrant Coalition–sued Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Lee, seeking to extend the state's voter registration deadline. The plaintiffs argued, "The result of the state’s failure to keep the OVR system operational was that many Floridians were unable to register to vote at all. Without action by this Court, these aspirational voters will be unable to cast a ballot in the Presidential Election and will be deprived of their fundamental rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments."
State officials said another extension would confuse voters and undermine confidence in the election: "The consistent theme that threads together all of the State’s arguments in this filing is this: Florida, like the rest of the Nation, must play its oversized role in selecting the next President of the United States. Judicially overhauling a critical Florida election deadline might sabotage, perhaps irreparably, Florida’s efforts to maintain normalcy during this profoundly abnormal election cycle."
Walker wrote, "This is an incredibly close call, but Florida’s interest in preventing chaos in its already precarious—and perennially chaotic—election outweighs the substantial burden imposed on the right to vote. In so holding, this Court notes that it is limited to the evidence before it, and Plaintiffs, who bear the burden of persuasion, have not persuaded this Court with record evidence suggesting their requested relief outweighs the burdens the state faces should this Court order such relief." Walker is a Barack Obama (D) appointee.
- Montana: On Oct. 8, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan denied a request for an emergency injunction to block Montana counties from automatically sending mail-in ballots to voters.
Kagan's decision comes after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit also declined to prohibit counties from sending out ballots. The plaintiffs–including the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee and several registered Montana voters–alleged Gov. Steve Bullock (D) exceeded his authority in an Aug. 6 order allowing counties to conduct the general election predominantly by mail.
Forty-five of the state's 56 counties are scheduled to begin mailing out ballots on Oct. 9.
Each U.S. Supreme Court justice is assigned to certain of the thirteen circuit courts of appeals to field emergency requests. Kagan, a Barack Obama (D) appointee, is assigned to the Ninth Circuit.
Today: Voter registration deadlines
The Help Desk daily feature will answer one frequently asked question or provide a summary of key election dates and policies each day. Today we take a look at voter registration deadlines.
States may have up to three separate deadlines for voter registration. Voters can register to vote either in-person, online, or by mail. For mail requests, the deadline can be either a postmark deadline (when the request was delivered to a mail service) or a received deadline (when the request arrived at the election office). The chart below details these deadlines in each state.
- Forty-eight states have in-person voter registration deadlines. The earliest deadline was Oct. 2 in South Carolina and the latest is Nov. 3 in 10 states.
- The deadline has passed in 19 states. Eight states have a deadline in the next week.
- Forty states have online voter registration deadlines. The earliest deadline was Oct. 4 in three states and the latest is Nov. 3 in Vermont.
- The deadline has passed in 15 states. Ten states have a deadline in the next week.
- Forty-eight states have mail-in voter registration deadlines. The earliest deadline was Oct. 4 in two states and the latest is Nov. 3 (received) in Vermont.
- The deadline has passed in 22 states. Eleven states have a deadline in the next week.
- New Hampshire and North Dakota are unique. In New Hampshire, registration deadlines vary by town. North Dakota does not require voter registration. Instead, a voter must provide identification at the polls proving they are eligible to vote.
To learn more about voter registration deadlines for the November 2020 general election, click here.
What we’re reading today
Upcoming dates and deadlines
Here are the key deadlines for voter registration, early voting, and absentee/mail-in voting coming up in the next seven days. For coverage of all dates, deadlines, and requirements, click here.
- Voter registration deadlines:
- October 10:
- Delaware (in-person, mail-in postmarked, online)
- October 13:
- District of Columbia (mail-in received)
- Kansas (in-person, mail-in postmarked, online)
- Maryland (in-person, mail-in postmarked, online)
- Minnesota (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- New Jersey (in-person, mail-in postmarked)
- Oregon (in-person, mail-in postmarked, online)
- Virginia (in-person, mail-in received, online)
- West Virginia (in-person, mail-in postmarked, online)
- October 14:
- Wisconsin (mail-in postmarked, online)
- October 16:
- Nebraska (mail-in postmarked, online)
- Early voting begins:
- October 12:
- October 13:
- October 14:
- Kansas
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- October 15:
- October 16:
- Absentee/mail-in voting request deadline:
- October 12:
- October 13:
- Rhode Island (in-person, mail-in received)
- Absentee/mail-in voting return deadline:
And a dose of calm
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