Legal fights have broken out in every critical battleground state in the weeks before Election Day, setting up dramatic court standoffs targeting thousands of votes that could decide who wins a razor-thin race in November.
State and national Republicans are facing off against their Democratic counterparts over rules and procedures that impact a host of voting mechanisms and blocs of voters.
Here’s how legal matters are shaking out in key swing states where former President Trump and Vice President Harris are nearly deadlocked in a tie, according to recent polls.
Arizona
Republicans’ noncitizens voting claims have been central in Arizona, where 218,000 people were found to be registered despite not providing proof of citizenship due to a computer glitch.
Whether those voters were still entitled to cast a ballot for president was never in dispute, but Arizona’s top court has ruled that election officials must allow people impacted to vote in state and local races, too.
The Republican National Committee has separately led a fight over the state’s Election Procedures Manual, contending the public was not given sufficient notice and an opportunity to comment before updates were implemented.
The RNC is appealing its case’s dismissal. But a separate challenge to the manual by the America First Policy Institute and other conservative groups has found more success.
The case remains ongoing, but an appeals court has temporarily halted restrictions on electioneering, photography and intimidating activity within 75 feet of polling places.
Georgia
The most contentious legal rows in Georgia have stemmed from several last-minute rules passed by its State Election Board, an unelected, Republican-controlled panel.
A state judge struck down seven of those rules, including one that allowed election workers to undertake a “reasonable inquiry” before........