The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states may count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day if they were sent on time, handing voting-rights advocates a major win and rejecting a Republican challenge to Mississippi’s ballot deadline law.
In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld Mississippi’s rule allowing absentee ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received within five business days. The Republican National Committee had argued that federal law requires ballots to be received by Election Day, not merely mailed by then.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices. The majority concluded that federal election law sets the deadline for casting a ballot, but does not require every valid ballot to be physically received by election officials on that same day.
The ruling preserves similar policies in several states and territories that allow mail ballots to arrive after Election Day as long as voters mailed them on time. It also avoids what election officials and voting-rights groups warned could have been confusion for voters, especially in states where mail delays are common.
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The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, centered on Mississippi’s five-business-day grace period. Mississippi defended its own law, arguing that states have authority to set procedures for counting absentee ballots as long as voters cast them by the federal Election Day deadline.
Republicans challenging the rule argued that allowing ballots to arrive later stretches Election Day into multiple days and could weaken confidence in the results. They said elections should end on Election Day and that late-arriving ballots create opportunities for uncertainty.
The majority rejected that legal theory. Barrett wrote that policy concerns about election integrity and voter confidence should be directed to legislatures, not courts, unless federal law clearly prohibits the state rule. The court found that the federal statutes did not say what the challengers claimed.
Justice Samuel Alito dissented, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining parts of the dissent. Alito argued that federal Election Day means the election must be completed on that date, and that collecting ballots afterward conflicts with that requirement.
The decision is politically significant because mail voting has become one of the most contested parts of American elections. Millions of voters use mail ballots, including seniors, rural voters, disabled voters, military voters, overseas voters and people who cannot easily vote in person. Many states use signature checks, postmarks, tracking systems and other procedures to verify ballots.
President Donald Trump and the RNC criticized the ruling and renewed calls for stricter voting legislation, including measures requiring proof of citizenship and tighter ballot deadlines. Voting-rights groups praised the decision, arguing that voters should not lose their ballots because of postal delays after they followed the rules.
For ordinary voters, the practical message is simple: in states with grace periods, a ballot mailed by the deadline can still count even if it arrives shortly after Election Day. However, the ruling does not force every state to adopt that policy. States that require ballots to arrive by Election Day may continue doing so unless their own laws change.
The ruling also reinforces the power of states to administer elections. In the United States, election procedures are largely set by state and local governments, though federal law sets certain baseline rules for federal contests. The court’s decision gives states room to decide how to handle mailed ballots, at least when ballots are cast by Election Day.
The ruling may reduce immediate uncertainty ahead of the midterm elections. A decision against Mississippi could have forced several states to change deadlines quickly and could have led to disputes over ballots already mailed or received during grace periods.
Some details remain political rather than legal. Mississippi’s governor and Republican lawmakers may still try to repeal the state’s grace-period law and require ballots to arrive by Election Day. Other states could also revisit their own rules. But after this ruling, those debates will likely happen in legislatures rather than through the courts.
Why It Matters
The decision affects how states count mail ballots and protects voters who mail ballots on time but face postal delays. It also strengthens state authority over election procedures and could shape voting rules before the midterm elections.
What Comes Next
Republicans may push Congress or state legislatures to tighten mail-ballot deadlines, while voting-rights groups are likely to defend grace periods as a protection against disenfranchisement. Election officials will continue preparing for the midterms under existing state rules unless lawmakers change them.
President Trump reacted to the Supreme Court’s ruling that states can count mail ballots that are cast by Election Day but arrive later: “I think it was very detrimental to honest elections.”
The high court split 5 to 4 in finding that Mississippi’s measure does not conflict… pic.twitter.com/foykaiq5wn
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 29, 2026
