Case involves a challenge to a Mississippi law that allows ballots to count if they are received days after election day
Case involves a challenge to a Mississippi law that allows ballots to count if they are received days after election day
The US supreme court announced on Monday it will hear a high-stakes case about whether states can accept mail-in ballots that arrive after election day, even if they are filled out and mailed before then.
The case, Watson v Republican National Committee, involves a challenge to a Mississippi law that allows ballots to count if they are received within five business days of election day.
Election officials in Mississippi, citing longstanding precedent, argue that a voter has cast their ballot on or before election day the moment a ballot is postmarked in the mail, and that how it gets to an election office after that is an administrative issue.
“As a matter of plain meaning, an ‘election’ is the conclusive choice of an officer. Voters make that choice by casting – marking and submitting – their ballots by election day,” argues the state of Mississippi in its petition to the supreme court for review.
