The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states can continue to count mailed-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, a practice that has been criticized by President Donald Trump.

Decision Upholds State Laws

The decision prevents a major shakeup in voting rules a few months before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress, among other state and local races. It preserves laws in more than half of the states and D.C. that accept ballots that arrive within a certain period after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who wrote the majority opinion, said federal election laws don’t currently specify a deadline for when ballots need to be received, but Congress could change that.

In a dissent, Justice Samuel Alito argued that counting late ballots “creates a serious risk of further undermining public confidence in our elections.”

President Trump echoed those concerns on social media, calling the ruling a “tremendous loss” and once again calling on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a package of proposed voting changes that has long stalled in the Senate.

Original reporting: Oklahoma City News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.