Happy Monday! What's waiting for you:

• a preview of the Republican National Convention tonight

• why a judge ordered a NEW election must be held after an entirely vote-by-mail primary

• more than 550,000 absentee ballots rejected so far this year

• Biden's economic policy: "the most progressive plan that we 'will see in our lifetimes'"

What's ahead for the Republican National Convention tonight: "very optimistic and upbeat."

"'The list of more than 70 people includes a mix of Washington politicians, White House and campaign staff, the president’s family members and others. Jason Miller, a Trump campaign adviser, said America would see 'a very optimistic and upbeat convention' from Trump and his Republican, independent and Democratic allies." (POLITICO)

• What's happening: The Republican National Convention kicks off tonight with what Trump campaign staff have promised will be "optimistic and upbeat" program, especially compared to the doom and gloom of the Democratic convention last week.

Tonight's speakers include:

-- Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA

-- Rep. Matt Gaetz

-- Rep. Steve Scalise

-- Former Ambassador Nikki Haley

-- Donald Trump, Jr.

And check out the full schedule for tonight here.

• What's at stake: This week, President Trump and Republicans will emphasize the sharp contrast between the right and left -- and try to connect Joe Biden's centrist pitch to the left-wing progressives of his party. Plus, they'll apply the lessons they learned from watching America's first all-virtual convention last week.

(1) Unlike Biden, President Trump will speak every night of the convention.

He's always been the best messenger for his agenda, and his presidency's communications strategy has long been based on direct communication with the American people.

The President will appear in the 10pm Eastern hour, which is prime time, and then deliver a full acceptance speech on Thursday.

(2) The convention will feature speakers who are not politicians or pundits.

Though the media is emphasizing the role of President Trump's family (remember: Biden's family spoke too!), there are more than 70 speakers at the convention this week -- and each night, that number will include Americans from outside D.C. telling their stories.

Tonight that includes a small business owner who used a Paycheck Protection Program loan and the father of a student killed in the very tragic Parkland, Florida schooling shooting in 2018, per CNBC reporting.

In 2016, President Trump said he'd keep the "forgotten men and women of country" at the forefront of his work. It's now coming full circle as he features everyday Americans at the center of his re-election campaign.

• What else to know: Biden and the Democratic National Convention speakers didn't focus much (or at all!) on policy. But heading into the Republican National Convention, President Trump and his campaign released the 10 key areas of his second-term agenda. Check out the full agenda here.

Judge orders new election for Paterson, NJ, which held an all-vote-by-mail primary in May.

"A state superior court judge ruled Wednesday that a new election will be held for a disputed Paterson, New Jersey city council seat after allegations of voter fraud via mail-in-ballots. The ruling comes only weeks after voter fraud charges were brought against the May 12 election winner Alex Mendez, per the Associated Press." (Daily Caller)

• What's happening: A New Jersey state judge invalidated the election results in Paterson -- one of the state's largest cities -- and ruled that a new election should be held due to concerns about voter fraud.

Here's the background on the case, as you may recall from previous updates from The Vote:

-- Due to concerns about COVID-19, Paterson held an all-mail election for its May primary. 

-- But 19% of the mail-in ballots, which is roughly 1 in 5 ballots, were rejected by the Board of Elections.

More than 1,000 individual ballots were rejected for signatures that didn't match voter records. More than 500 were rejected due to improper delivery, i.e. mailboxes that received several hundred ballots in a single packet. (The Daily Signal)

-- In June, the New Jersey Attorney General filed voter fraud charges against four men, including the winner of the May primary. (NJ.com)

• What's at stake: While the Democrats are promoting bizarre conspiracy theories about the U.S. Postal Service, the left and the media are totally ignoring voter security concerns with all-mail (as in, totally vote-by-mail) elections.

President Trump has faced sharp media criticism and even pushback from social media platforms like Twitter for raising concerns about voter fraud in vote-by-mail elections.

Meanwhile, the left has championed politicians like the Nevada governor who signed a bill to automatically mail ballots to all registered voters ahead of the 2020 election.

So you shouldn't expect to see this story reported in the media ... but you should know it's happening!

• What else to know: Both major parties and campaigns as well as outside groups are filing lawsuits to challenge new or changed voting procedures given COVID-19 concerns. Here's a running list of the lawsuits.

As of yesterday, there are more than 200 cases in 43 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico.

More than 550,000 absentee ballots rejected so far this year. Here's what that means for November.

"An extraordinarily high number of ballots — more than 550,000 — have been rejected in this year's presidential primaries, according to a new analysis by NPR. That's far more than the 318,728 ballots rejected in the 2016 general election and has raised alarms about what might happen in November when tens of millions of more voters are expected to cast their ballots by mail, many for the first time."  (NPR)

• What's happening: NPR has reported that more than 550,000 absentee ballots have been rejected in the presidential primaries so far this year, mostly due to issues with the ballot signatures or missing deadlines.

That's far ahead of the same number in 2016, though that's perhaps not surprising given the large increase in absentee and mail voting this year due to COVID-19 concerns.

• What's at stake: Though we've focused on election security and ballot integrity, there are other issues to consider with an increase in absentee voting by mail.

(1) Eligible voters must have their ballots counted, whether they vote in person or choose to vote absentee.

The U.S. Postmaster General addressed concerns about mail delivery -- and meeting election deadlines -- in his congressional testimony last week. 

But the signature matching remains a challenging point.

In Ohio, a key swing state, the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit that challenges how the state handles signature matching. That could affect how many ballots are accepted -- or rejected -- there in November.

(2) No one can predict the future in 2020 ... but we personally believe there's a good chance challenges to signature matches could figure into state recounts, if they occur.

We think it'll be like the "hanging chad" debate of the Florida 2000 recount but in far more states. (And we truly hope we're wrong!)

Not sure if this is a threat or a promise: Biden's economic plan "most progressive plan that 'we will see in our lifetimes'"

"Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti (D.) said Sunday that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's economic plan is the most progressive plan that 'we will see in our lifetimes.'" (Washington Free Beacon)

• What's happening: The Democratic National Convention didn't share many details about a possible Biden Administration's agenda ... but national leaders have filled in information in interviews.

In an interview over the weekend, the Los Angeles mayor pledged that Biden's "economic plan is the most progressive plan that 'we will see in our lifetimes.'"

• What's at stake: This week President Trump and Republicans will likely emphasize Biden's unstated but truly progressive agenda to the American people.

On economics alone, here are recent stories that show what the mayor meant:

-- a CNBC reporter called Biden's tax plan the "most expensive" in "recent history"

-- Biden rolled out a $2 trillion version of the Green New Deal