Supreme Court signals plot to hand GOP 'cheat code' to kill any election law: expert

"In 2024 alone, more than 750,000 late-arriving ballots were counted because of a state’s grace period," Stern wrote. "Now there is a very real chance that the Supreme Court will wipe out these laws in one fell swoop, causing chaos in the upcoming midterms that could disproportionately impact Democratic voters."

"But Alito’s argument was not grounded in reality — or, for that matter, law," Stern wrote. "It is not the Supreme Court’s job to decide whether Mississippi’s law increases 'fraud or the appearance of fraud' (though it doesn’t). Its job is to decide whether Congress intended to foreclose grace periods for mail ballots when it set federal Election Day more than 150 years ago. It obviously did not; indeed, it could not have foreseen the widespread adoption of mail voting well over a century later."

"Besides, Alito’s logic (to the extent there was any) is circular: The only reason there may be an 'appearance of fraud' is because opponents of mail voting spread unfounded claims of fraud," he added. "If the resulting paranoia can be weaponized against otherwise valid voting rules, then the Republican Party has found a cheat code to kill off any election law in court."

Stern was chilled to hear that other conservatives on the court – especially Alito's doppelganger – appeared to buy into election fraud conspiracy theories that could result in a decision that could upend election laws in 30 states just months before the midterm elections.

"With his questions, it sounded as if Kavanaugh was trying to manage backlash to his eventual vote to, yes, 'disenfranchise' countless Americans," Stern wrote. "The justice continues to transform into the new Alito."