Attorney General Bonta Files Amicus Brief Supporting Nevada Voting Rights Law

Coalition argues that Nevada law is constitutional and helps increase voter participation

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of a Nevada mail-in ballot law. The mail-in ballot law at issue in Republican National Committee (RNC) v. Burgess permits the counting of absentee ballots postmarked on or by Election Day and received within four days of Election Day. The lower court — the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada — held that the RNC, several Republican organizations, and a Nevada voter lacked standing to bring their claims. The RNC appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit. In the amicus brief, the attorneys general underscore that the Nevada statute falls squarely within states' constitutional authority to regulate elections. Similar to the challenged Nevada statute, California law provides that ballots returned by mail are timely if postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days.  

“Yet again, the RNC is attempting to make it harder for Americans to participate in our democracy. It is disappointing, but unsurprising,” said Attorney General Bonta. “My fellow attorneys general and I are proud to support Nevada’s voting rights law. If you lawfully cast your ballot on or by Election Day and meet other state law requirements, you should not have to worry about your vote being tossed out through no fault of your own.” 

In the amicus brief, the attorneys general argue that: 

• A majority of states permit counting at least some mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day and that states’ flexibility to make policy judgments in this area comes from their constitutional authority to regulate effective and efficient elections. Ballot-receipt deadlines can exist and have existed side-by-side with the federal election-day statutes, and Nevada’s and other states’ laws fall neatly into the framework envisioned by the Framers and set out in federal election-day statutes. 
• Absentee voting has long existed as a way to increase voter participation. It first appeared in America before its founding, became more common during and after the Civil War, and entered the mainstream in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Extending ballot-receipt deadlines has become especially important as more people vote absentee. State laws permitting absentee voting have multiplied in recent years, and so too has voters’ utilization of absentee voting. 
• As absentee voting increases, laws like Nevada’s play a crucial role in maximizing voter participation. Voting absentee shifts some of the voting process from voting machines to the postal system. Statutes like Nevada’s help mitigate the burdens imposed on mail carriers as a result of that shift. Post offices need several days to deliver ballots in ideal circumstances, and as more voters cast ballots by mail, the post office will only need more time. 

Attorney General Bonta also defended before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit a similar Mississippi law that permits absentee ballots to be counted if postmarked by Election Day and received within five days of Election Day. In filing today’s amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

A copy of the brief can be found here.