The Supreme Court on Monday allowed states to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day, rejecting a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee that would’ve upended voting rules in more than a dozen states ahead of the November midterm elections.
In a 5-4 ruling, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the high court held that nothing in federal election-day statutes prohibits states from counting late-arriving mail-in ballots.
“The election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose,” Barrett wrote in the opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts also joined the court’s liberal wing to form a majority.
“This is not a case about the Constitution. We do not consider the scope of Congress’s authority to regulate federal elections,” Barrett added. “The sole question before us is whether counting ballots postmarked by election day, but received up to five days later, violates the federal election-day statutes.”
It’s a stinging defeat for election-security advocates, including President Donald Trump, who has long criticized the practice. On Truth Social, Trump called the ruling a “tremendous loss” and renewed calls for Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act.
“If we want fair and secure elections, Election Day should mean exactly what it says, which is why this decision makes it even more imperative that Congress pass the SAVE America Act,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement to The Daily Wire. “Democrats are inviting chaos at the ballot box by allowing elections to drag on for days and weeks after voters cast their ballots. Republicans are not going to be deterred by this decision, and the RNC will keep fighting to have elections end on Election Day as Americans want.”
Mail-in ballots have become a key target for conservatives following California’s recent primary, where leftist Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman advanced to the November mayoral election after nearly a week of counting late-arriving ballots, locking Republican Spencer Pratt out of the race.
The Supreme Court case centered on a challenge to a Mississippi law that allowed a grace period for mail-in ballots.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
“It opens up and fails to resolve a host of questions for state election officials and courts,” Alito wrote in a scathing dissent. “And it creates a serious risk of further undermining public confidence in our elections and our system of self-government.”
Before the case reached the Supreme Court, the Mississippi Republican Party and the Republican National Committee (RNC) sued the state, arguing that its law violated federal statutes enacted by Congress in 1845 establishing the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as “Election Day.” In 1872, Congress extended that requirement to congressional elections as well, according to SCOTUSblog.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Mississippi, saying that federal law preempted state law and required all ballots to be received by Election Day.
Trying to overturn the 5th Circuit, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson asked the Supreme Court to weigh in. Watson argued to the court that the 5th Circuit’s decision “defies statutory text, conflicts with this Court’s precedent, and — if left to stand — will have destabilizing nationwide ramifications,” The Daily Wire previously reported.
He said that as long as the ballots had been filled out by Election Day, they should be counted. Nineteen mostly blue states and the District of Columbia are supporting Mississippi in its efforts to reverse the lower court’s decision.
The RNC disagreed, noting that accepting ballots after Election Day could delay election results for weeks.
“Many States can’t conclude their elections for weeks after election day because they’re still receiving ballots from voters. Weeks after the ‘day for the election’ has come and gone, the elections in those States continue,” they wrote in a brief.
In executive orders, President Trump has called for an end to mail-in voting, alleging the practice opens the door to election fraud.
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