Supreme Court To Hear Critical Challenge To Mail-In Ballots

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case that will decide whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day. 

The case could have widespread implications for the 2026 midterm elections, as 17 states currently allow mail-in ballots postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted several days after the election. Justices will consider “whether the federal election-day statutes preempt a state law that allows ballots that are cast by federal election day to be received by election officials after that day.”

The case comes after the Mississippi Republican Party and the Republican National Committee (RNC) sued Mississippi over a state law that allowed mail-in ballots to be counted if received up to five days after Election Day. 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. 

After the decision from the 5th Circuit, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue. 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.”

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 had asked the Supreme Court not to take up the case, saying that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to side against Mississippi was correct and did not need review. 

“A post-election receipt deadline for mail ballots thus extends ‘the election’ beyond the ‘day’ set by Congress. Text, history, and precedent all confirm this conclusion,” the RNC wrote in a brief to the court. “In no sense is the ‘election’ over when ballots are still coming in.”

The RNC also noted that the policy of 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. 

President Donald Trump has called for an end to mail-in voting, saying that it opens the door to election fraud. 

In an executive order earlier this year, Trump directed the Justice Department to take action against states that count “absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the final tabulation of votes for the appointment of Presidential electors and the election of members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.”