Congress has work to do to safeguard elections
The Supreme Court held that federal election law does not require states to count only ballots received by Election Day. This leaves states such as California free to enact lax rules that stretch vote counting for weeks and sometimes months. Importantly, however, the court made clear on Monday that Congress may regulate how states conduct federal elections and has done so in the past. This means the current Congress can do more to safeguard elections if it can find the political will to do so.
TL;DR
- The Supreme Court held that federal election law does not require states to count only ballots received by Election Day.
- This ruling allows states like California to have extended vote counting periods.
- The court affirmed that Congress has the constitutional power to regulate federal elections.
- Congress has previously regulated federal elections in areas like setting Election Day, voter registration, and voting system standards.
- Proposed legislation like the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) aims to improve federal election integrity.
- The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship, strengthen voter-roll maintenance, and ensure mail ballots are received by Election Day.
- The court's opinion suggests that congressional action is the remedy for weak state election-administration rules.