President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is suing the state of New Jersey over Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive order that will send mail-in ballots to every voter in the state.
Murphy issued an executive order Friday creating a hybrid election system which will send a mail-in ballot to every voter in the state as well as hold in-person voting during the November election.
“COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives, from our health and safety to how we participate in our democracy,” said Governor Murphy. “The virus continues to threaten public health…we are ensuring that New Jersey voters do not have to make a decision between exercising their right to vote and protecting their well-being.”
LOUISVILLE, KY – JUNE 23: A poll worker (L) cleans a voting booth between voters during Tuesdays primary election on June 23, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Exposition Center is the only polling location for Tuesday’s Kentucky primary in Jefferson County, home to Louisville and 767,000 residents. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
The order will extend the deadline to allow ballots being returned through USPS to be counted as valid if received by Nov. 10 and marked with a postmark on or before Nov. 3.
The order will also require at least one polling place in each municipality and at least 50% of polling places in each county to be open to give voters the opportunity to vote in-person.
For those who vote in person, they’ll be given a provisional ballot since polling workers won’t know whether the individual already voted by mail, Murphy said in an interview with CNN. Provisional ballots are paper ballots that allow voters to cast a vote that will be counted only if their identity is later confirmed, according to the ACLU.
The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S District Court for New Jersey to invalidate the order, according to CNBC.
The lawsuit alleges the order takes away the legislature’s authority to decide when and how elections are held. It also alleges the “system will violate eligible citizens’ right to vote” and that “fraudulent and invalid votes dilute the votes of honest citizens and deprive them of their right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment,” according to CNN. (RELATED: Michigan Rejects More Than 10,000 Absentee Ballots, Including Some From Voters Who Died)
The Trump campaign also sued Nevada in August to block a similar law that will send a mail in ballot to every voter, a plan Trump claimed is a “catastrophe waiting to happen,” according to Reuters. The lawsuit alleges the legislation will result in “inevitable” voter fraud. However, unlike New Jersey’s executive order which only accepts ‘late’ ballots if they are postmarked on or before Nov. 3, Nevada’s order mandates that mail-in ballots received up to three days after the election shall be counted, even if they lack a postmark, according to Reuters.
The Daily Caller has reached out to the office of the New Jersey Governor for comment.
