The Supreme Court made a significant ruling on Monday, deciding that states should be allowed to count ballots that are mailed on time but arrive after Election Day. In a 5-4 decision, the high court rejected a challenge to laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted some number of days after the election, provided they are postmarked by Election Day.

Decision Implications

The decision, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is a defeat for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly claimed that mail-in voting encourages fraud, an assertion not backed up by evidence. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. also joined the court’s three liberals in the ruling. The question before the court was whether Mississippi was acting legally when it permitted ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrived within five business days of the election.

Thirteen other states have grace periods for ballots cast by mail. Another 15 have longer deadlines for military and overseas voters. Among the states with deadlines after Election Day are California, Texas, New York, and Illinois. Rural areas of Alaska also allow post-Election Day ballots.

The ruling spares officials the headache of changing their ballot rules just a few months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections. Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart noted during arguments before the Supreme Court in March that the Trump administration had failed to produce a single case of fraud due to mail ballots that arrived after Election Day.

State Laws and Federal Law

Federal law sets Election Day as “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.” The Supreme Court’s decision allows states to set their own regulations governing elections, as long as they do not conflict with federal law. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the states and Congress should decide the issue, not the courts.

Original reporting: NBC Connecticut — read the source article.