Reuters: “A U.S. federal appeals court on Tuesday left in place North Carolina’s plan for counting absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. In a 12-3 decision, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a bid to halt the North Carolina State Board of Elections from tallying ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 that arrive before Nov. 12. The Trump campaign, the North Carolina Republican Party, and others had sued over the timetable, saying that it violated the state’s election code. ‘All ballots must still be mailed on or before Election Day,’ Circuit Judge James Wynn wrote for the court. ‘The change is simply an extension from three to nine days after Election Day for a timely ballot to be received and counted. That is all.’ The decision upheld an Oct. 14 decision by U.S. District Judge William Osteen in Greensboro, who said he did not want to cause ‘judicially created confusion’ by changing the rules weeks before the election.”