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Behind-the-scenes battles: Legal challenges that could impact the vote before Election Day begins

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Behind-the-scenes battles: Legal challenges that could impact the vote before Election Day begins

Battleground states have already seen their share of fights before Election Day as legal challenges centered on voting issues, and while some have already been decided, others remain up in the air just hours before polls open Tuesday morning.

From issues including mail-in ballots, drop boxes and concerns about ineligible voters, here are some of the high-profile swing state cases and where they currently stand.

Arizona

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes acknowledged in September that 218,000 people in the state were allowed to register to vote without proof of citizenship despite state law that requires it. A state court set a deadline of Monday for production of a full list of affected people so that the recorders of each county can verify the citizenship of voters who had not previously provided proof of citizenship.

The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Monday before receiving any list that approximately 2,000 people had tried to submit voter registration updates and subsequently received notices that they had to prove their citizenship. 

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“These voters were contacted individually to let them know their registration was incomplete. However, after further consideration, the decision was made to fully restore those voters from the not-registered status, only if they were previously an existing, registered voter,” the statement said. 

Georgia

Georgia has seen multiple lawsuits involving mail-in ballots. In Cobb County, the ACLU sued, claiming that at least 3,000 voters did not receive their ballots on time. A lower court had ordered new ballots to be sent overnight to the affected voters, saying that their votes would be counted as long as they are received by Nov. 8 at 5 p.m., but the Georgia Supreme Court stayed that ruling on Monday, so these voters now have to make sure their ballots get to the county elections office by 7pm on Election Day or vote in person.

Also in Cobb County, as well as in Fulton, Dekalb and Gwinnett Counties, the Republican National Committee sued, claiming that election offices improperly opened over the weekend to allow voters to drop off their mail-in ballots in person. The RNC cited state law that says drop boxes should be closed after the end of the early voting period, which was Friday. A state court said the county elections offices had the discretion to open for additional hours.

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Another Georgia case involved Fulton County’s offices being open over the weekend for dropping off mail-in ballots. At first, poll observers were barred from entering, with Fulton County elections director Nadine Williams stating that they were not allowed because it was a county office and not a polling site. Just hours later, it was announced that observers would be permitted after all.

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Nevada

A lawsuit from the Trump campaign, RNC and Nevada Republican Party opposing the potential counting of mail-in ballots that the state receives after Election Day that do not bear a postmark. The state Supreme Court ruled that such ballots can still be counted up to three days after Election Day. There is a similar case in federal court where challengers also lost but are appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The same issue was also brought before the Fifth Circuit after a case was brought in Mississippi, and while the court said such ballots cannot be counted after Election Day, the ruling does not apply to this year’s election.

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North Carolina

The RNC also has a lawsuit in North Carolina, involving 225,000 people it alleges are improperly registered because they had used an old form that did not ask for their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. The RNC claims that this violates the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

“Because of these errors, the North Carolina voter rolls, which both HAVA and state law mandates that Defendants regularly maintain, are potentially replete with ineligible voters – including possible non-citizens – all of whom are now registered to vote,” the RNC and North Carolina GOP said in a court filing.

Pennsylvania

The Keystone State remains a key battleground, not just on the ballot but in courtrooms, with several lawsuits having been filed over a variety of voting issues, many involving mail-in ballots.

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Republicans scored a win when they appealed a court ruling that said mail-in ballots without a required handwritten date could still be counted. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overruled, saying that handwritten dates must be on the ballots.

The GOP was not so fortunate in a separate case in which it sought an emergency appeal from the U.S. Supreme Court after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that provisional ballots should be counted if voters’ mail-in ballots were disqualified for technical errors, such as not being in mandatory secrecy envelopes. Republicans cited a state law that they argued prohibited voters from casting provisional ballots if they had already submitted mail-in ballots on time.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned away the RNC’s appeal, with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas issuing a statement that made clear that because the case only involved two votes in a small county, it would not have impacted the results of the election either way.

Both parties won legal challenges when voters in multiple counties did not receive mail-in ballots on time. Democrats in Erie County sued when as many as 20,000 voters did not receive their ballots from a third-party vendor on time. A judge ruled that the Erie County Board of Elections had to remain open last Friday and Saturday so voters could fill out ballots.

In Bucks County, Republicans sued over voters waiting in line for mail-in ballots being turned away at 5 p.m., even though they had been there waiting. A judge swiftly ruled that voters should get an additional three days to apply for a mail-in ballot.

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Another Pennsylvania case involves six Republican members of Congress who sued Pennsylvania’s State Department with allegations that overseas voters’ ballots were vulnerable to fraud because those voters were not made to adhere to the same identification requirement as absentee ballot voters in the U.S. The GOP lawmakers lost when a judge dismissed their case based on standing, timeliness, not presenting a viable cause of action and failing to join indispensable parties.

One situation that remains ongoing involves a potential voter fraud operation that is under investigation. Officials have said that several counties have seen large batches of voter registration forms and mail-in ballot applications that were suspicious. In Monroe County, District Attorney Mike Mancuso said that some of the forms detected in his county were submitted by “Field and Media Corps,” an apparent subsidiary of Fieldcorp, an Arizona-based organization working in Lancaster County.

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This was after officials in Lancaster County reported receiving 2,500 forms marked as suspicious for having false names, duplicative handwriting or unverifiable or incorrect identifying information.

The applications reportedly were not limited to a single party and were collected in various spots across the county.

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One more case in Pennsylvania involves Elon Musk and his contest to award $1 million each day to an individual who registers to vote and signs a pledge to support the First and Second amendments. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and his PAC, claiming that the contest is an illegal lottery, and the Justice Department warned the Tesla CEO that there could be federal law issues because it is illegal to pay people to vote.

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall on Oct. 26, 2024 in Lancaster, Pa. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Musk has countered that he is not requiring anyone to vote in order to win the prize, only to register and sign the petition. He attempted to have the case moved to federal court but was unsuccessful. A hearing in the case took place on Monday, and a judge ruled that Musk could continue his contest through Election Day.

Wisconsin

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On Monday, the RNC announced that it is suing the Milwaukee Elections Commission over a city plan that was announced over the weekend, which says some precincts will limit poll watchers on Election Day to just one Democrat and one Republican, with outside organizations being barred.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

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Los Angeles, Ca

Police searching for inmate who walked away from Southern California jail facility

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Police searching for inmate who walked away from Southern California jail facility

Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as well as local law enforcement, are searching for a 22-year-old inmate who walked away from a community reentry program facility in Los Angeles Tuesday.  

Authorities said an emergency prisoner count called at around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday confirmed that Samaki M. Tywman was missing after officials were alerted that he had tampered with his ankle monitor.  

The 22-year-old is described 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing approximately 179 pounds. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, black sweatpants and black tennis shoes, a CDCR news release detailed.  

Samaki M. Tywman, 22. (CDCR)

The release also stated that Tywman was serving a five-year sentence for “discharging a firearm in an inhabited dwelling/vehicle/aircraft and second-degree robbery.”  

He entered CDCR’s Male Community Reentry Program, which allows eligible offenders in state prison to serve the end of their sentences at the reentry center where they are provided with programs to help transition back into the community, on Aug. 6, 2024.  

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“Since 1977, 99 percent of the incarcerated people who have escaped or walked away from an adult male institution camp, in-state contract bed or Community Rehabilitative Program Placement have been apprehended,” officials added.  

Anyone who sees Tywman or has knowledge of his whereabouts is urged to call 911 or contact Special Agent Abraham Villasenor at 760-936-1851.  

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Southwest

Texans pour cold water on Democratic hopes for a blue Lone Star State

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Texans pour cold water on Democratic hopes for a blue Lone Star State

Texas residents aren’t sold on claims that the Lone Star State could flip blue in either the presidential or senatorial races, despite Democrats’ forecasts. 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that there is a national characterization of Texas becoming more blue, and thus more vulnerable in statewide elections. 

But, “I think that’s often overstated,” he said Wednesday on the sidelines of a Georgetown rally for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

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Texas voters don’t think the state has a real chance of going blue. (Fox News Digital)

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“We’ve got a big state where, you know, 30 million people and the seventh- or eighth-largest economy in the world with a diverse state. But it’s a solid conservative state. And I don’t think it’s going to be that close in the end.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris recently held a campaign event in traditionally red Texas with celebrity guest Beyoncé, signaling a Democratic effort to get out the vote in the state. 

Her appearance in the state comes as Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, is hoping to unseat Cruz. The Republican led Allred 50% to 46% in a recent New York Times/Siena College Poll. 

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Cruz Allred

Rep. Colin Allred, left, is hoping to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz. (Getty Images)

The survey interviewed 1,180 voters in Texas between Oct. 23 and 26. The margin of error is +/- 3.3 percentage points.

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Despite the single-digit margin, Texans were confident in the state staying red. 

“I don’t think Texas is getting more competitive,” said Texas resident Jeff Solomon. “I think there’s a perception that is an inaccurate perception through polling. And I think the polling tends to oversample left-leaning voters. And I think that gives the impression that things are closer than they are.”

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Split of Trump and Harris

Former President Trump rallied in Raleigh, North Carolina, before Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with supporters in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder/Kevin Mohatt)

Williamson County GOP Chair Michelle Evans said she thinks Democrats are ambitious about the state, “because, like [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] says, if they transform Texas, they transform it for generations.”

“But unfortunately, they are absolutely in over their skis,” she predicted.

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While most were optimistic about Republicans’ results in Texas, resident Bob Elliott expressed some concern, wishing that former President Trump “spent some more time” in Texas or discussed races in the state more. 

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Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz speaks with Fox News Digital. (Fox News Digital)

“I think Trump’s going to win Texas. But for Ted Cruz,” he said, “I wish [Trump] would have gave more lip service for talking about Ted Cruz in Texas.” 

The former president only endorsed Cruz in his re-election bid last month. “While I have Endorsed Ted, on numerous occasions, verbally, because of the Importance of the Race, and Ted’s Importance to the future of our Country, I thought the Endorsement should be memorialized in writing,” Trump said at the time. 

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Texas is favored to go Republican in both the Senate and presidential elections in 2024. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.



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Los Angeles, Ca

Georgia woman among those sentenced for being ‘money mule’ in Southern California fraud scheme 

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Georgia woman among those sentenced for being ‘money mule’ in Southern California fraud scheme 

A woman from Georgia who operated as a “money mule” in a large real estate wire fraud scheme was sentenced to jail time and probation in Ventura County late last week, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said. 

Jasmine Shante Faniel, 39, participated in a scheme where scammers gain access to real estate transactions by impersonating trusted parties like escrow officers, real estate agents and title representatives, among others, the DA’s Office stated in a release issued Monday afternoon. 

“This fraud typically occurs through sophisticated computer scammers operating outside the U.S. who compromise emails between the parties,” officials said. “Once fraudsters gain access to the transaction, they target buyers’ closing fees, sellers’ proceeds, lenders’ funds and even commissions.” 

The legitimate parties in the transaction send funds to the “money mules” after they are deceived through intercepted or manipulated emails, the DA’s office elaborated. The “money mules,” said to be low-level participants in the fraud, receive the stolen funds and launder them to individuals higher up in the scheme who are typically located outside of the United States. 

In the case of Faniel, she was found to have opened multiple bank accounts in her home state under the name Teresa Dennis in March 2023. She used those accounts to accept and launder the funds stolen from a Ventura County family attempting to purchase their first home, authorities said. 

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Jasmine Shante Faniel as seen in a booking photo released by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.

The native of Conyers, Georgia – a city in the Atlanta metropolitan area – received the funds from another co-defendant, Abdoul Aziz Bah, and subsequently transferred most of the money to a bank account in Nigeria, where it was laundered through international auto auctions, the DA’s office release stated.

Investigators said she only retained a small portion for herself. 

“The investigation in this case determined both defendants acted as ‘money mules’ and that they received the stolen $201,000 from the victims and then laundered it,” authorities said. “During the investigation, $33,500 of the victims’ stolen money was traced to an account in Georgia in Faniel’s false name, Teresa Dennis.” 

Bah was sentenced to one year in jail and two years of probation in late September, authorities said. He was also ordered to pay full restitution to the victims; he had already paid $5,000 in restitution before his sentencing. 

Faniel pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property over $950 and money laundering on Sept. 26. Following her plea, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Unit obtained a court order requiring the funds to be returned to the victims. As of Tuesday, $38,500 has been recovered and returned. 

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She was sentenced to nine months in jail followed by two years of formal probation. 

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Unit was assisted in the investigation by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit, which completed the extraditions of the defendants from Georgia.

Officials remind homebuyers to always verify wire transfer requests by calling a known member of the transaction to confirm the request is valid before ever wiring funds.

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