Election officials belonging to the Republican Party in New York State were refusing to process absentee ballots during a court challenge earlier in the week.
Following a warning from the State Attorney General, they started counting them, according to WENY News.
Reports say that two thirds of the Republican county elections commissioners were adhering to court orders last week.
The order kept the early ballot counting law in place during the appeal.
Early absentee voting started during the pandemic, which let people vote ahead of election day. The law lets these ballots be prepared for counting ahead of time, but it was not always like that.
This move has been challenged by the Republican and Conservative parties.
The way it used to happen was that commissioners in New York would open and scan the early ballots after the election.
This would make official counts delayed for weeks as the ballots were examined by lawyers for alleged irregularities.
Lawsuits are being filed throughout the nation regarding the November 8 elections
A lot of the lawsuits happening in the nation are spearheaded by the Republican party.
Their reasoning for these lawsuits is their issue with mail-on voting, early voting, voter access, voting machines, registration, and counting ballots that are mismarked.
According to Saratoga County Judge Diane Freestone, the law in New York “clashes with an individual’s constitutional right to challenge ballots in court before they’re counted.” She made this ruling on Oct. 21.
Republicans had been successful in court originally but an appeals court put a temporary hold on the ruling after Democrats filed the appeal.
The hearing is being held today, where the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court in Albany will hear arguments orally. This is just one week before Election Day.
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