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Pennsylvania Supreme Court sides with GOP in last-minute mail-in ballot dispute

Pennsylvania Supreme Court sides with GOP in last-minute mail-in ballot dispute

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court shut down an effort to allow mail-in ballots lacking a handwritten date to be counted in the 2024 election. The ruling overturns a decision from a Commonwealth Court finding that the state law requiring a handwritten date was unconstitutional. The Pennsylvania GOP appealed that ruling to the state supreme court, and now undated mail-in ballots will not be counted in the upcoming election. Justice Kevin Dougherty admonished the Commonwealth Court for its ruling in a forcefully-worded opinion relating to Friday’s ruling. “‘This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election.’ We said those carefully chosen words only weeks ago. Yet they apparently were not heard in the Commonwealth Court, the very court where the bulk of election litigation unfolds,” Dougherty wrote. 26 REPUBLICAN ATTORNEYS GENERAL JOIN VIRGINIA IN PETITIONING SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON VOTER ROLL “Today’s order, which I join, rights the ship. And it sends a loud message to all courts in this Commonwealth: in declaring we would not countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election, we said what we meant and meant what we said,” he continued. APPEALS COURT RULES AGAINST GOP IN CASE CHALLENGING 225K VOTER REGISTRATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA Pennsylvania Republicans hailed the Friday ruling, saying Democrats have repeatedly tried to subvert the dating requirement. “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the law, and the dated ballot requirement will be in effect for this election. Democrats have repeatedly tried to eliminate this important ballot safeguard, and we have stopped them each time,” RNC Chairman  Michael Whatley said in a statement. “We are committed to protecting critical ballot safeguards to ensure every ballot is cast and counted properly and will continue to fight across Pennsylvania to Protect the Vote.” State officials in favor of allowing undated ballots to be counted argue the change would make process easier for election workers. The Pennsylvania Department of State filed a brief in favor of the change prior to the court’s ruling on Friday. THE 1.6M VOTERS WHO COULD DETERMINE THE US ELECTION DON’T CURRENTLY RESIDE IN THE COUNTRY “The requirement that county boards set aside mail ballots with declaration-date errors — and particularly the requirement that they set aside mail ballot envelopes with ‘incorrect’ dates — imposed a significant burden on county boards. Election workers must manually review every ballot envelope to determine whether it has a ‘correct’ date,” the brief said, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Friday’s ruling was the second time this month that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has blocked Democrat-backed efforts to dismantle the dating requirement.

Early in-person voting ending Saturday in North Carolina, New Mexico, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia

Early in-person voting ending Saturday in North Carolina, New Mexico, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia

Saturday is the final day for early in-person voting in New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia as the nation sits just three days from Election Day. Here is everything you need to know to cast a last-minute ballot during early voting. North Carolina last voted for a Democratic president in 2008, when Sen. Barack Obama won the state by 0.3 points, or 14,177 votes. Trump pulled out a convincing 3.7-point win in 2016, but that margin shrank to 1.3 points against Biden in 2020. ‘PULLING AN ALVIN BRAGG’: LEFT-WING DA’S ‘FLIMSY’ SUIT AGAINST ELON MUSK’S $1M GIVEAWAY SLAMMED BY EXPERT Late last month, the Fox News Poll had the two 2024 presidential candidates just a point apart, with Democratic nominee Vice President Harris at 49% and former President Trump at 50%. North Carolina is ranked a toss-up on the Fox News Power Rankings. The state has become more competitive as its population has grown. Over the last full decade, North Carolina added roughly 1.1 million people, the fourth-largest gain among all states. Much of that growth has been in urban and suburban areas like those in solidly blue Mecklenburg and Wake counties. The pandemic brought more wealthy, urban Americans from surrounding states, and there are pockets of college voters as well. Rural areas have experienced some population decline, but they remain a powerful part of the state’s overall vote, and they vote overwhelmingly Republican. TRUMP HAS ANOTHER RESPONSE TO BIDEN’S ‘GARBAGE’ COMMENT ABOUT GOP SUPPORTERS Voters who have received their mail-in ballot have until Nov. 5 to deliver it to local election officials. Saturday is the final day for early in-person voting. BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT AS VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY Voters who have received their mail-in ballots have until Nov. 5 to deliver them to local election officials. Saturday is the final day for early in-person voting. Voters who have received their mail-in ballot have until Nov. 5 to deliver it to local election officials. Saturday is the final day for early in-person voting. Voters who have received their mail-in ballot have until Nov. 5 to deliver it to local election officials. Saturday is the final day for early in-person voting. Voters who have received their mail-in ballot have until Nov. 5 to deliver it to local election officials. Saturday is the final day for early in-person voting.

Georgia’s nearly 4 million early votes bode well for Trump, top state Republican says

Georgia’s nearly 4 million early votes bode well for Trump, top state Republican says

Georgia Republicans appear confident the state’s record-setting early voting numbers will favor their 2024 presidential nominee. “It’s been record turnout, something unbelievable — voting from all across the state,” Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones told Fox News Digital. “I think the enthusiasm, the momentum, is with President Trump.” The former commander in chief lost Georgia by less than 1% in 2020, and Republicans have poured enormous time and resources into winning it back Nov. 5. A significant part of that strategy has been convincing people to cast ballots early, traditionally a voting method more favored by Democrats. MIKE JOHNSON KICKS OFF SWING-STATE TOUR AS GOP CLINGS TO HOUSE CONTROL And both parties’ emphasis on early voting has had a seismic effect. During the early voting period between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1, nearly 4 million Georgians cast in-person or absentee ballots, more than half the state’s active voters. Over 700,000 people who voted already in 2024 did not vote at all in 2020, according to Georgia Votes. Meanwhile, the top three counties for voter turnout rates are rural areas won by Trump in 2020. Both of those factors, Jones argued, were favorable indicators for the ex-president. ‘ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND VOID’: GEORGIA JUDGE STRIKES DOWN NEW ELECTION RULES AFTER LEGAL FIGHTS “We’ve got a lot of voters that voted in 2016 but didn’t vote in 2020. … What makes me believe that they are Trump voters is that most of them are … from parts of the state that are pretty strong Republican strongholds,” he said.  “You start breaking down where they live, where they were historically as far as the Republican cards they pulled in the past, and, like I said, the on-the-ground enthusiasm for [Trump] right now is pretty off the charts.” Asked why he believes some of Trump’s base did not turn out in 2020 but is voting now, Jones said, “I’ll be honest with you. I think that there are a lot of people that just felt like, you know, the president had the win in the bag in 2020. “Sometimes I wonder if that false sense of security might have hurt us back in 2020.” Nonetheless, it will likely be tough to get a full picture of how well Republicans’ early voting strategy has paid off until after Election Day. According to Georgia Votes, Hispanic voters make up the largest share of those who voted early in 2024 but did not vote at all in 2020, making up 37.6% of that number. FORMER REPUBLICAN US SENATOR ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS, SAYS ELECTION OFFERS ‘STARK CHOICE’ That’s followed by Asian voters at 33.7%, Black voters at 19.1% and White voters at 17.7%. Roughly 72% of people who voted early in 2024 also did so in 2020 — about 2.6 million people. About 8.3%, just over 305,000 people, voted early in 2024 after voting on Election Day in 2020. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

Harris, Trump ‘leave nothing on the field’ in final weekend before Election Day

Harris, Trump ‘leave nothing on the field’ in final weekend before Election Day

MILWAUKEE — Vice President Kamala Harris is urging her supporters to vote with the clock ticking down toward Election Day. “We’re going to get this done, but nobody can sit by the sidelines,” the Democratic presidential nominee emphasized as she campaigned in battleground Wisconsin. “You don’t want to look back on these four days and have any regrets about what you could have done.” Harris and the Republican nominee, former President Trump, held dueling rallies Friday night a few miles apart in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city. NOVEMBER SURPRISE: DISMAL JOBS REPORT HANDS TRUMP INSTANT AMMUNITION TO FIRE AT HARRIS Hours earlier, while campaigning in Michigan, another crucial Great Lakes swing state, Trump told his supporters “nothing matters except what happens on Tuesday.” “Just pretend that we’re one point down. We’re not. We’re up. But pretend that we’re one point down on Tuesday,” the former president stressed. He once again touted that he’s leading Harris, even though the latest polls continue to indicate it’s a toss-up. VICE PRESIDENT KEEPS HER DISTANCE FROM BIDEN IN FINAL STRETCH TO ELECTION DAY With time running out, the campaign strategy now shifts. “The closing arguments have been made. It’s not really about persuasion now. It’s about turnout. And that’s where all the energy of the campaigns are going to be directed,” longtime Republican strategist David Kochel told Fox News. Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, said, “At this point, people’s minds are made up. There are very few people out there to convince at this point. And if they’re deciding, they’re deciding between voting or sitting on the couch.” Harris and Trump on Thursday each held their final events in the western battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada, and Friday’s competing rallies were their last stops in Wisconsin ahead of Election Day. CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION The razor-thin margins in those three states, along with Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, decided President Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump and will likely determine if Harris or Trump wins the 2024 election. This weekend, both nominees will keep up the brisk pace. Harris campaigns Saturday in Georgia and North Carolina and makes multiple stops in Michigan on Sunday. On Election Eve, she crisscrosses Pennsylvania, which, with 19 electoral votes up for grabs, is the biggest prize among the seven battlegrounds. Trump campaigns this weekend in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. He also makes a detour on Saturday in Virginia, a one-time swing state that has leaned blue in presidential elections for two decades. The former president will hold a rally in the conservative southwestern section of the commonwealth. The former president made a similar stop in another blue-leaning state, New Mexico, Thursday. REPUBLICANS ARE RUNNING A ‘SUCCESSFUL’ EARLY VOTING CAMPAIGN IN BATTLEGROUND NORTH CAROLINA: NRCC CHAIR On Monday, the day before the election, Trump will campaign in North Carolina and Pennsylvania before holding his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the same city where he closed out his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. But it’s not just the standard-bearers on the trail. The running mates — Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee — are fanning out across the country, along with top surrogates. Far from the spotlight, campaign staffers and volunteers are making their final rounds with door knocks, phone calls, texts and emails to make sure their supporters have already voted early or will cast a ballot on Election Day.  In an election within the margins, it could make all the difference. “It’s about getting people to the polls, getting absentee ballots returned, getting whatever remaining early vote there is left in the door and just leave nothing on the field,” Kochel emphasized. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.