Mail ballot fight persists in key states, sure to slow count

By MARC LEVY
Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As Election Day approaches, the fight over mail-in ballots is back. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are crucial swing states that allow mail-in ballots but give local election offices very little if any time before Election Day to process them. Election workers’ inability to check signatures, addresses and get the mailed ballots ready for counting ahead of time means many of the those ballots may not be counted by election night. That will delay results in tight races and leave a gaping hole for misinformation and lies to flood the public space. Efforts since 2020 to give local election workers more time before Election Day to process mailed ballots have fizzled in each state’s Republican-controlled legislature.