On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided late-arriving absentee ballots in Pennsylvania can be counted in the upcoming presidential election, so long as they’re postmarked by Nov. 3. But despite that ruling, which resulted from a 4-4 deadlock, former Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral said that she’s not optimistic about the future of U.S. voting rights.
"It’s not really a victory,” Cabral said in a Thursday interview on Boston Public Radio. "It’s a short-term victory, in as much as Pennsylvania will be allowed to count ballots that are postmarked by Nov. 3.”
"But," she continued, "it is very potentially a long-term major loss for free and fair elections and democracy,” referring to the near-certain confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court next week.
Cabral accused the four dissenting conservative justices of ruling against U.S. voter protections in order to allow "highly partisan legislatures to decide whose vote counts and whose doesn’t.”
She then said she believes that U.S. democracy could be permanently stunted with the reelection of President Donald Trump, and the solidification of a majority conservative Supreme Court.
"Another shot doesn’t come after this,” she said, in reference to the November election. "Not with Amy Barrett on the Supreme Court, and not if Donald Trump wins the second term. Democracy, as people have known it their entire lives, will cease to exist — and that’s not an understatement, it’s just true.”
Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and secretary of public safety. She's also the current CEO of Ascend.
