The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states are allowed to count mail-in absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day, provided they are postmarked by the time voting ends. In a 5–4 decision written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the high court reversed a lower court ruling that had threatened mail-in voting deadlines across the country.

The Case

The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, focused on a Mississippi law that allows a five-day business grace period for absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day. The Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party, and several individual voters sued in 2024, arguing that federal laws setting a single, uniform Election Day mean that ballots must be received, not just cast, by that Tuesday in November.

Justice Barrett, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, rejected the idea that ballot receipt is dictated by federal law. She wrote that the historical and ordinary definition of an election centers on the voters’ act of making a choice, rather than when the ballot physically reaches an election office.

Implications

The majority also pointed to other federal laws, such as the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), to support its decision. Barrett noted that UOCAVA, which protects voting rights for military members serving overseas, repeatedly references and relies on state-specific deadlines for receiving ballots.

The Supreme Court emphasized that debates over the security and timing of mail-in ballots belong in the hands of lawmakers rather than the judiciary. The majority concluded that if the American people want a single nationwide deadline for receiving ballots, that change must come through Congress.

Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.