When the RNC saw that Democrats were trying to abolish a state law in Florida to allow ballots to be counted after Election Day and to prohibit the state’s ban on ballot harvesting, they had to intervene.
As it turns out, it was a President Bill Clinton-appointed judge who gave the Republicans the victory. In his ruling in Nielsen v. DeSantis, Judge Robert Hinkle noted that "the plaintiffs have not shown likely success on the merits" of their case. He explained why it's imperative for the state law to remain intact.
"This eliminates the problem of missing, unclear, or even altered postmarks, eliminates delay that can have adverse consequences, and eliminates the remote possibility that in an extremely close election—Florida has had some—a person who did not vote on or before election day can fill out and submit a ballot later," Hinkle said.
You can read the whole ruling here.
Great news! A Clinton-appointed judge handed us a major victory in Florida.
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) June 25, 2020
Democrats sued to force counting of ballots cast *after* Election Day & prohibit the state’s ban on ballot harvesting, but the judge sided with us.
We are fighting hard to https://t.co/ImFKSGulau!
"Democrats’ nationwide assault on the integrity of our elections has never been based on fact or public health emergency, but rather an attempt to use the courts to achieve their long sought partisan goals of legalizing ballot harvesting and eliminating nearly every safeguard in our elections," RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel reacted in a statement. "We are pleased this Clinton-appointed judge sided with us in our fight to protect the integrity of Florida’s elections."
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The RNC is currently involved in a similar lawsuit in Minnesota. Liberal groups there claim that the state's absentee voting restrictions "unjustifiably burden" the voting rights of Minnesota voters, especially in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
But as Republicans see it, "Democrats are trying to use coronavirus and the courts to legalize ballot harvesting, implement a nationwide mail-in ballot system, and eliminate nearly every safeguard in our elections."
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