I mean some states have odd year elections for local issues, etc. After the precious election, they should do their diligence to find anyone who should no longer be registered, like people who they believe have died, or shouldn’t have been eligible to register. Anyone purged should get a courtesy notice via email or mail just in case.
Recounts happen sometimes, etc, so anytime between mid November and early January seems perfectly reasonable to me.
There’s a lot more gradation in laws against actually hurting people. I’m guessing misdemeanor assault here means that an attempt was made, but maybe he punched the carrier once and the pepper spray stopped him. An aggressive threat and a fairly ineffective attack? That kinda makes sense to me