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The eight-person Supreme Court on Monday sided with South Carolina to reinstate a mandate that absentee ballots require witness signatures, even as critics argue that the coronavirus puts an undue burden on voters to safely get a witness cosign on the ballots. The order will not apply to ballots already cast or those mailed in within the next two days, but will apply to ballots going forward for the Nov. 3 general election. (Wise, 10/5)

The high court made one concession, saying ballots already sent in without a witness should be counted. Tens of thousands of ballots have been sent to voters across the state. The court’s brief order did not list any objecting justices. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch said they would have granted the request in full, meaning the ballots already in without a witness signature would not be counted. (Barnes, 10/5)

There were no noted dissents, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch would have granted a stay application in full, meaning ballots already submitted that did not have a witness signature would have been rejected. It is one of the first election-related cases that the Supreme Court has ruled on since the primaries and could suggest the justices will rein in lower courts that seek to alter the rules of an election, even if to expand access to voting as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. (Montellaro, 10/5)

Amid debate over prescription drug costs, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a closely watched case on Tuesday that is expected to determine the extent to which the states can regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the controversial middlemen in the pharmaceutical supply chain. At issue is an Arkansas law that governs reimbursements rates that pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, must pay to pharmacies. (Silverman, 10/5)

As more Americans turn to voting by mail due to the coronavirus, some election officials are already seeing the kinds of mistakes that could lead to large volumes of ballots being disqualified. Some fraction of mail-in ballots are disqualified every election. Around 1% of them were rejected nationally in the 2016 general election, according to the federal U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Common reasons include ballots being received after the deadline or voters not signing the ballot envelope or supplying a signature that doesn’t match state records. (Corse and Day, 10/4)

North Carolina is one of only two states where the law prevents facility staff from assisting with voting in any way. Here, it’s illegal even for a staff member to do so much as drop a completed absentee ballot in the mail. (Hoban, 10/6)