The five conservatives on the Supreme Court affirmed an appeals court ruling overturning a decision that would have extended Wisconsins mail-in ballot receipt deadline by six days. Absentee ballots in Wisconsin now must be received by the close of polls on Election Day.

This 5-3 ruling comes as part of a string of decisions by the conservatives on the court blocking lower court rulings that would have made it easier to vote during the coronavirus pandemic. But hidden within the main concurrence written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh are two threats much greater than overturning six extra days for ballots to arrive by mail: He explicitly endorsed legal theories that could help President Donald Trump stop the counting of mailed ballots after Election Day or, worse, override results with the help of Republican state legislatures.

First, Kavanaugh, who was appointed by Trump, affirmed the sentiment expressed by the president that it is somehow necessary for the election to be decided on election night and that suspicion should be cast upon valid ballots counted after Nov. 3 in states that allow election officials to do so.

For important reasons, most States, including Wisconsin, require absentee ballots to be received by election day, not just mailed by election day, Kavanaugh writes. Those States want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results of an election. And those States also want to be able to definitively announce the results of the election on election night, or as soon as possible thereafter. Moreover, particularly in a Presidential election, counting all the votes quickly can help the State promptly resolve any disputes, address any need for recounts, and begin the process of canvassing and certifying the election results in an expeditious manner.

These are highly controversial statements, as someone like Kavanaugh, who worked as a lawyer on the Bush v. Gore case that decided the 2000 presidential election for George W. Bush, should know. The 2004 election that followed, reelecting Bush, was not officially decided until the day after the election. Late-counted ballots, whether they be absentee or provisional ballots, decided the 2018 Arizona Senate election. These were all valid ballots. But Trump, in his quest to undermine faith in democratic elections and lay the groundwork for contesting the 2020 election results, says all ballots that are counted after Election Day are either suspicious or fraudulent. This is the sentiment Kavanaugh echoed.

In fact, minutes after Kavanaughs decision came down, Trump tweeted , Big problems and discrepancies with Mail In Ballots all over the USA. Must have final total on November 3rd. Twitter placed restrictions on this tweet for containing false information. There are no reported Big problems or discrepancies with absentee or mailed ballots.

Its unclear what Kavanaughs affirmation of the presidents election lies means. But Trump stated after nominating Barrett that he was counting on [the court] to look at the ballots.

Justice Elena Kagan understood the severity of Kavanaughs assertion. She chided Kavanaugh in her lengthy dissent, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, for his Trumpian dismissal of counting all the votes.