The Supreme Court will decide whether states can accept ballots after Election Day.
The justices agreed on Monday to hear Watson v. Republican National Committee, a challenge to Mississippi’s law allowing absentee ballots postmarked by election day to be counted up if they are received within five days.
The question centers on whether federal laws establishing Election Day prevent states from accepting ballots later. Nearly 30 states, along with the District of Columbia, have similar laws allowing some ballots to be accepted after Election Day.
Mississippi enacted its rule on absentee ballots during COVID-19 but made it permanent in 2024. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals previously held that Mississippi’s statute allowing ballots to be received after election day is “preempted by federal law.”
“The decision below thus invites nationwide litigation against laws in most States risking chaos in the next federal elections, particularly given the tendency of election law claims to spur last-minute lawsuits,” the Missouri attorney general wrote in the state’s petition. “Less than 18 months remain before the next federal election—and state electoral processes start much sooner.”
The Republican National Committee argues that the Fifth Circuit got it right.
“Many States can’t conclude their elections for weeks after election day because they’re still receiving ballots from voters,” the committee wrote in a filing with the Supreme Court. “Weeks after the ‘day for the election’ has come and gone, the elections in those States continue.”
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