The Supreme Court upheld state laws that allow mail ballots postmarked by election day to be counted even if they arrive later, rejecting a Republican bid tied to Mississippi’s COVID-era rules and leaving California’s long-standing practice unchanged.
The Supreme Court’s decision landed with a quiet thud for the people who rely on mail voting: ballots sent on time can still be counted, even when the envelope arrives after election day.
On Monday. the Court upheld state laws that allow for counting mail ballots that are postmarked by election day but received later. In a 5-4 ruling. the Court rejected a Republican challenge to similar rules in California and 13 other mostly Democratic states that permit the counting of these late-arriving ballots.
The justices in the majority included Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., joined by three liberals. The vote was a mild surprise, and it is expected to bolster Democrats heading into the fall election.
California’s seven-day grace period for mail ballots had been part of the backdrop—helping to contribute to slower tabulations—but the Court said it has not been shown to trigger fraud or produce unreliable vote counts. Election law experts placed the blame for slow results on a combination of factors: a surge in voting by mail and the careful work required to match signatures on returned ballots.
At the center of the case was what “election day” means under federal law. The Court said federal law dating to 1845 sets election day nationwide as the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and voters were required to cast their ballots on that day.
Republicans—including the Republican National Committee and the Trump administration—pushed back through a challenge to a Mississippi law adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. That Mississippi rule allowed ballots that were up to five days late to be counted.
Trump’s lawyers argued that federal law preempted or overrode the state rule. In court filings, Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer wrote that “From the dawn of America, election day has meant the day the ballot box closes — and when election officials must be in receipt of all ballots.”
Democrats countered that the Constitution lets states set the “time, place and manner of holding elections” for Congress through their legislatures. They also pointed out that Congress was empowered to override those state rules for federal elections, if it chose to do so.
Barrett’s reasoning drew a bright line between casting and receiving. The federal election-day framework, she said, requires only that the voter must decide by then. “The election-day statutes require the electorate’s choice to be made on election day. That occurs so long as election day is the deadline for individuals to vote — as it is in Mississippi. ” she wrote. “But the election-day statutes do not set a deadline for ballot receipt. so they do not prevent Mississippi from counting ballots postmarked before election day yet received afterward.”.
The Court also noted that Congress could have barred the counting of late-arriving ballots but had not done so. One possible reason, the Court suggested, is that states wanted to count ballots from members of the military stationed overseas even if they arrived late.
That point matters because the case had already been fought once in the lower courts. Last year. the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans struck down Mississippi’s law. concluding that the election day set by Congress is “the day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials.” The three-judge panel—made up of judges all appointed by President Donald Trump—rejected Mississippi’s argument that the federal election-day statutes mean ballots must be cast. not received.
Mississippi appealed to the Supreme Court and kept its states’ rights position. Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomón said the result means “Eligible Americans shouldn’t lose their voice because of mail delays outside their control. ” calling it “a victory for voters and for an election system that meets the needs of the people it serves.”.
With the Supreme Court refusing to upend the late-arrival rules that have become part of how many Americans vote by mail. states like California can continue their longer processing windows. The decision also leaves the immediate controversy settled for now: election day may still define when voters have to make their choices. but it does not—at least under the Court’s reading—automatically dictate when election officials must physically receive every ballot for it to count.
Supreme Court mail ballots election day late-arriving ballots California Mississippi Barrett Roberts Common Cause Virginia Kase Solomón RNC Trump administration