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Campaign 2020

Michigan court stops 2-week absentee ballot extension

Michigan law says absentee ballots must be turned in by election night to be valid.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this May 5, 2020, file photo, Jordan Smellie moves absentee ballots to be counted at City Hall in Garden City, Mich. The Michigan appeals court has denied a request to require the counting of absentee ballots received after the time polls close on Election Day. The ruling says the deadline remains intact despite voters' approval of a constitutional amendment that expanded mail-in voting. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan appeals court has blocked a 14-day extension to accept and count absentee ballots.

The court says any changes must rest with the Legislature, not the judiciary. Michigan law says absentee ballots must be turned in by election night to be valid.

But a Court of Claims judge had ordered that any ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 could be counted if they arrived within two weeks after the Nov. 3 election.

Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, both Democrats, had declined to appeal, leaving it to the Republican-controlled Legislature to intervene.

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