The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day, rejecting a Republican-led attack on laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted some number of days after the election, provided they are postmarked by Election Day. The decision spares officials the headache of changing their ballot rules just a few months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections. In just over half those states, the more forgiving deadlines apply only to ballots cast by military and overseas voters.
The legal challenge was part of President Donald Trump's broader attack on most mail balloting, which he has said breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience in numerous states. The court heard arguments in March in a case from Mississippi pitting the state against Trump's Republican administration and the Republican and Libertarian parties. At issue was whether federal law sets a single Election Day that requires ballots to be both cast by voters and received by state officials. The federal appeals court in New Orleans had struck down a Mississippi law allowing ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of the election and are postmarked by Election Day.