Mail-In Ballot

Arizona and Wisconsin certified President-elect Joe Biden's narrow victory on Monday. The two states are the latest to reject President Donald Trump's bid to stop states certifying their results, alleging widespread voter fraud without evidence.

"There’s no basis at all for any assertion that there was widespread fraud that would have affected the results," so Josh Kaul, Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general.

After President Donald Trump early morning speech, the Biden camp has released a statement saying the "president’s statement tonight about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect."

The full statement reads:

"It was outrageous because it is a naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens.

It was unprecedented because never before in our history has a president of the United States sought to strip Americans of their voice in a national election. Having encouraged Republican efforts in multiple states to prevent the legal counting of these ballots before Election Day, now Donald Trump is saying these ballots can’t be counted after Election Day either.

And it was incorrect because it will not happen. The counting will not stop. It will continue until every duly cast vote is counted. Because that is what our laws — the laws that protect every Americans’ constitutional right to vote — require.

We repeat what the Vice President said tonight: Donald Trump does not decide the outcome of this election. Joe Biden does not decide the outcome of this election. The American people decide the outcome of this election. And the democratic process must and will continue until its conclusion."

Judge Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court of the District of Columbia ordered the US Postal Service to immediately sweep facilities for ballots in crucial swing states. The order mandates that facilities must start the process by 3pm ET "to ensure that no ballots have been held up and that any identified ballots are immediately sent out for delivery.

Sweeps must be conducted in various crucial swing states, including Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Arizona and South Florida.

The Republican party in California has admitted responsibility for the placement of over 50 ballot drop boxes for mail-in ballots that are not official, but labeled as either "Official Ballot Drop off Box" or as "Ballot Drop Box."

Government officials say the receptacles are illegal and could lead to voter fraud, but the party says it will continue the practice.

Judge Stanley Bastian has temporarily blocked the US Postal Service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy from changing USPS policies or protocols before the November election. Recent changes have slowed mail nationwide, in what Judge Bastian called "a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service".

"Although not necessarily apparent on the surface, at the heart of DeJoy's and the Postal Service's actions is voter disenfranchisement. This is evident in President Trump's highly partisan words and tweets, the actual impact of the changes on primary elections that resulted in uncounted ballots, and recent attempts and lawsuits by the Republican National Committee and President Trump's campaign to stop the States' efforts to bypass the Postal Service by utilizing ballot drop boxes, as well as the timing of the changes," so the Judge in a statement. "It is easy to conclude that the recent Postal Services' changes is an intentional effort on the part of the current Administration to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy of upcoming local, state, and federal elections, especially given that 72% of the ... high speed mail sorting machines that were decommissioned were located in counties where Hillary Clinton received the most votes in 2016."

In a new filing, the reelection campaign of Presiden Donald Trump asked a federal judge to prevent mail-in ballots to be counted by New Jersey election officials beginning 10 days ahead of Election Day until a lawsuit is settled.

In addition, the campaign asked the federal judge to bar elections officials from accepting mail-in ballots that do not have a postmark for two days after election day.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed two new laws to make it easier for residents to vote. New voters will be able to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot via a modified voter registration system, and all registered voters should receive their ballot by October 6, if their VBM application is submitted by October 1.

Additionally, the state has declared election day as a state holiday, meaning Government offices will be closed on November 3, 2020.

Following the health concerns of in-person voting due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Californian Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order that requires the state to sent mail-in ballots to all registered voters in the state for the general election in November 2020.

In addition to this, the counties are directed to still provide voting locations for in-person voting. People then can decide how they want to vote.

California state will send out mail-in ballots for the upcoming presidential election to every registered voter, so Governor Gavin Newsom. In-person voting will still be possible and Alex Padilla, Secretary of State, said that they "remain committed to providing as many safe, in-person opportunities to vote as possible on and before Election Day". California is the first state to offer mail-in ballots for the November election.