Anzi Luong

Legal fights are still continuing over congressional maps for other states, including New York and Virginia.

Anzi Luong, NPR News.

A panel of three federal judges found the drawing of California's new congressional map was driven by partisan politics, but rejected the claim by California's Republican Party that the map violated the U.S.

Constitution because race was the main driver.

California's map could help Democrats pick up five more U.S.

House seats.

And it was approved by the state's voters last year to counter the new Texas map that President Trump pushed for to help Republicans.

Last month, the Supreme Court decided to allow Texas to use that map for this year's midterm election.

The court has previously ruled that partisan gerrymandering is not revealable by federal courts.

Time is running out for the Supreme Court to weigh in on California's congressional map before the state's candidate filing period starts early next month.

Anzi Luong, NPR News.

The date that's stamped on envelopes is sometimes used to determine whether mail-in ballot gets counted.

But as part of the U.S.

Postal Service's reorganization, USPS has cut back how often it picks up mail in certain areas more than 50 miles from one of its regional processing centers.

That means some first-class mail may not get postmarked until the day after it's collected.

In a letter to the Postmaster General, Senators Alex Padilla and Jeff Merkley, plus a dozen other Senate Democrats, say they're concerned this change could lead to more voters getting their mail-in ballots rejected.

To make sure a letter gets a postmark on the same day you mail it, USPS recommends asking for one at a post office.

Election officials say a last-minute voter can also consider turning in their ballot in person, like at an election office.

Anzi Luong, NPR News.

It's not clear when the Supreme Court will issue its decision in a closely watched redistricting case out of Louisiana.