The U.S. Supreme Court rules that federal law does not bar states from counting mail-in ballots that are cast by Election Day but arrive after it. In a 5-4 decision on Monday, the Court rejects a Republican challenge to a Mississippi law that permits late-arriving absentee mail ballots to be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and received within a set grace period. Multiple outlets report that the Mississippi provision allows ballots to be counted for up to five days after Election Day. The Court’s ruling effectively preserves similar grace-period practices in a number of states, which rely on the idea that mail ballots can be counted even if they do not reach election officials by Election Day itself. CBS and other outlets also describe the decision as upholding state discretion to apply these counting rules within the limits of federal law. The decision comes in the context of ongoing litigation and election-law disputes about deadlines and when votes must be received versus when they are cast. The justices’ narrow vote underscores disagreement over the interpretation of federal requirements and the balance between election administration and ballot access.