The U.S. Supreme Court rules that federal law permits states to count mail-in ballots that are cast by Election Day but arrive after polls close. In a 5–4 decision, the justices uphold a Mississippi “grace period” provision that allows certain late-arriving ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received within a set number of business days. The ruling rejects a challenge brought by the Republican National Committee (RNC) against the Mississippi law, which sought to block the practice in federal elections.
Multiple outlets report that the decision preserves similar state practices in more than a dozen states, with Bloomberg saying it affects grace periods in about 30 states. The court’s reasoning centers on whether federal requirements prevent states from applying these late-arrival counting rules, and it concludes that states may do so under federal law.
Some coverage frames the decision as beneficial to one party’s political prospects, but the ruling itself is narrowly focused on the legality of counting ballots that meet the postmark and arrival conditions set by state statute.
