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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United Sates Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 that federal election-day statutes do not require mail-in ballots for federal elections to be received by Election Day, upholding a Mississippi law that counts absentee ballots postmarked on or before Election Day if received by election officials up to five business days later.

“The federal election-day statutes do not preempt Mississippi’s law because the defining element of an ‘election’ has always been the electorate’s choice of candidate,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority opinion of the Court. “And a related federal statute—the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA)— confirms that while federal law dictates when ballots must be cast, state law governs when they must be received…. The electorate’s choice is made when voting is complete, not when ballots are received.”

Justice Barrett, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, also contend that the Constitution sets a single, uniform national day for casting votes but it does not require those votes to be received on that same day.

“The Constitution requires the ‘Day on which [the electors] shall give their Votes’ to be ‘the same throughout the United States,’ Art. II, §1, cl. 4, but says nothing about the day for receipt,” Barrett wrote. “The Constitution thus envisions a system in which receipt of votes is necessarily divorced from voting. And it sets the crucial, uniform day as the day of voting while leaving receipt to happen later.”

The Secretary of State Steve Hobbs praised Monday’s decision by SCOTUS saying the ruling upholds Washington state law for county election offices to accept ballots received after Election Day if the ballot was postmarked on or before Election Day.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Watson v. RNC is a victory for all Washington voters,” Secretary of State Hobbs wrote in a statement. “The ruling upholds our longstanding ballot return rules, which support accessible and fair elections. Washington’s ballot return deadline means that the thousands of voters whose ballots are postmarked on time but received after Election Day still have their voices heard. We will continue our record of safe and secure elections in the upcoming midterm.”

Congresswoman Susan DelBene (WA-01) reminds voters to “get your ballots in early” due to recent changes at the post office, and “ensure it’s post marked on time or use a ballot box.”

“This SCOTUS ruling is a win for Washingtonians & millions of Americans across the country who rely on vote-by-mail as a safe, reliable way to cast their ballot,” Rep. Delbene wrote in a statement.

Justice Samuel Alito filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch and by Justice Brett Kavanaugh except as to Parts II–C–2 and III of the dissent.

“If ballots received after election day are added to the set of ballots that dictate the election’s outcome, the electorate’s choice does not occur on election day, and the federal election-day statutes are violated…. The acceptance of these late-arriving ballots effectively postpones the date on which the electorate’s choice is made, and federal law precludes that postponement…. Because the Court reverses that decision based on a flawed understanding of the election-day statutes, I respectfully dissent.” Justice Alito wrote.

The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, centered on a narrow question: whether federal statutes setting Election Day for president, senators, and representatives preempt Mississippi’s provision allowing certain absentee ballots—those postmarked by Election Day—to be received and counted afterward. The Court held they do not.

In 2024, the Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party, and individual plaintiffs sued Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson and other officials. They argued that the federal election-day statutes—3 U.S.C. § 1, 2 U.S.C. §§ 1 and 7—use the word “election” to encompass both the casting and the receipt of ballots. By designating a single day for the “election,” the complainants contended, Congress set a receipt deadline as well. The Libertarian Party of Mississippi brought a parallel suit.

Mississippi permits eligible residents, including college students away from home and senior citizens, to vote absentee in federal elections. Ballots may be sent by mail or common carrier and must be “postmarked on or before the date of the election and received by the registrar no more than five (5) business days after the election,” according to state code. Roughly 30 states, including Washington state (14-21 days), have comparable rules permitting at least some post-Election Day receipt of ballots mailed by the deadline.

A federal district court granted summary judgment to Mississippi. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed, finding preemption. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed the Fifth Circuit.

Monday’s ruling affirms that states retain sole authority to set reasonable deadlines for the receipt of ballots that were postmarked or otherwise cast by Election Day. It does not require any state to adopt or maintain such a grace period, nor does it invalidate stricter state laws that demand receipt by Election Day.

President Donlad J Trump denounced the ruling calling it a “tremendous loss” for voter rights because it allows ballots to be counted long after Election Day, and called on Congress to immediately pass the SAVE America Act, which would require photo ID and proof of citizenship for all voters while limiting mail-in ballots to only narrow exceptions.

“The House of Representatives has approved this vital Act, THREE TIMES,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The United States Senate seems unable to do so. In a time when there is a powerful Communist Movement taking place in our Country, one more dangerous than World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or September 11th, all Dumocrats, and our five Republican Senate Hold Outs, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy, and Mitch McConnell must vote to SAVE OUR COUNTRY. There can be no more excuses!”

Author: Mario Lotmore