2020 US Election

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2020) The US Supreme Court refused to allow the crucial swing state of Wisconsin to extend the deadline for mail-in ballots just eight days ahead of the November 3 election, striking a blow to Democratic challenger Joe Biden whose supporters prefer the mail option by a huge percentage over those who support President Donald Trump.

US SUPREME COURT WEIGHS IN ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS

The US Supreme Court declined to allow a six-day deadline extension for receipt of mail-in ballots in the crucial swing state of Wisconsin, court documents revealed. The Supreme Court in a 5-3 ruling on Monday sided with Republicans in blocking the Democratic Party's request.

In the state of Wisconsin, 1.75 million mailed ballots have been requested, about 61% of which have already been returned. In 2016, Trump won the state by less than 23,000 votes (less than 1 percent of the total vote). Overall, more than 63 million Americans have already voted, the US Elections Project revealed on Monday, about 67% of which were cast via mail versus 33% in-person.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the state of Pennsylvania, in a separate case, are urging the US Supreme Court to reject the Republican Party's second attempt to reverse a three-day deadline extension granted by the state for mail-in voting, a court filing revealed.

"It is unthinkable that such weighty issues would be fully briefed and conclusively decided in just a few days - while at the same time subjecting the voters of Pennsylvania to severely unfair treatment and imposing new and significant burdens on the election officials who are charged with conducting this election," Pennsylvania Democrats said in a court filing on Monday.

BIDEN MAINTAINS LEAD BUT MANY SWING STATES 'TOO CLOSE TO CALL'

Biden has maintained his lead in most battleground states yet slim margins and complicating factors such as mail-in ballots make the race practically impossible to predict.

Biden, as of Monday afternoon, leads nationally by 7.9% on average in the 11 most recent surveys posted on poll aggregator Reaclearpolitics.com (RCP), dropping one point from where it stood a week ago.

The former vice president is ahead in ten of the top 12 battleground states, but all of his leads are within a typical margin of error, except in Michigan, where he has an 8.1% edge. Biden's lead is under three percent in 5 states: Florida (+1.5%), North Carolina (+1.2%), Georgia (+0.4%), Arizona (2.4%), and Iowa (0.8%). He is leading by 4-6 percent in the remaining four states: Pennsylvania (+4.9%), Wisconsin (+5.4%), Minnesota (+6.0%), and Nevada (5.2%), according to the RCP average.

Trump leads in Texas by 3.2%, down about a point from last week, and is ahead in Ohio by around a half-point.

TWITTER INVOLVEMENT IN ELECTION

The social media giant Twitter said in a statement on Monday that it has added a banner on its platform to debunk any misinformation related to the US presidential election.

"Election 2020 is unlike any other in US history," the statement said. "With so many more people voting by mail and potentially delayed results, starting today, we'll show you prompts in your Home timeline and Search to help you stay informed on these critical topics."

This year, Twitter has blocked or limited any alleged misinformation related to the upcoming presidential election, including issues surrounding mail-in voter fraud or statements that incite violence. President Donald Trump has had several of his tweets flagged and has criticized Twitter and other social media platforms for censoring articles and other information that are critical of his rival Joe Biden.