US EditionSupreme Court Mulls Limiting Mail-in Ballots, Forcing States to Prepare for Changes
The court’s ruling could force states to reject late-arriving mail ballots for federal races, impacting military and overseas voters and requiring ballot sorting by counties.
- On Monday, the Supreme Court expressed skepticism toward state laws allowing the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day, hearing arguments in a Mississippi case that could require all federal ballots be physically received by Election Day.
- The case centers on an 1845 federal statute that established Election Day for federal offices as the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every even-numbered year. Justices are now questioning whether states can validly accept ballots after that designated date.
- Former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna warned that voters must change habits, as ballots arriving after Election Day might see federal races disqualified while state and local votes remain valid. McKenna said, "they'd better get it in by Election Day."
- Military and overseas voters face the greatest difficulty with a hard receipt deadline, as service members deployed abroad cannot easily drop off ballots at local election offices. McKenna noted they cannot simply "drive down to the corner."
- The pending SAVE Act in Congress would mandate citizenship proof and a hard receipt deadline nationally, representing a substantial shift in federal elections. The 2028 presidential race will mark the full weight of these potential changes across the country.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Readers respond: Mail ballots early to ensure they count
The U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to rule that elections officials can’t count ballots that arrive after Election Day, (“Supreme Court could bar late-arriving mailed ballots. Here’s what that would mean for Oregon voters,” March 24). That means Oregonians should get their ballots in the mail earlier than normal this November.
'A lot of votes may not count': Supreme Court appears ready to upend WA mail-in ballot rules for federal races by November 2026
Washington voters may be facing one of the biggest changes to how elections work here in decades, and a former state attorney general is saying it plainly: a lot of votes in federal races may not count this November. Former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna told “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio that, based on recent Supreme Court arguments, the direction seems clear. “This could result in a lot of votes in the federal races…
SCOTUS Considers Legality of Accepting Ballots After Election Day
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case challenging the legality of counting late-arriving absentee ballots. Originating in Mississippi, the case asks the Justices to decide whether mail-in ballots can be counted after election day if they are postmarked on time. More than a dozen other states have similar laws on [...] The post SCOTUS Considers Legality of Accepting Ballots After Election Day appeared first on The …
Supreme Court mulls limiting mail-in ballots, forcing states to prepare for changes
States are already preparing for the possibility that the Supreme Court could eliminate grace periods for mail-in ballots received after Election Day, which could pose unexpected consequences for this year’s midterm elections and beyond. The high court on Monday weighed the lawfulness of a Mississippi statute that allows ballots postmarked by Election Day but received five business days afterward to still be counted. More than a dozen states…
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