Supreme Court upholds grace period for late mail-in ballots

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on June 29, 2026 that states may count mail-in ballots received after Election Day when postmarked by that day, upholding Mississippi's five-day grace period. The mailin ballots supreme court decision in Watson v. RNC rejects Republican claims that federal law requires ballots to be received on Election Day itself.

In a decision with implications for the November midterms, the justices reversed a lower-court ruling that had sided with the Republican National Committee. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, wrote the majority opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court's three liberal justices, according to Fox News.

Key Takeaways

• The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold Mississippi's law allowing absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if received within five days.
• Justice Barrett wrote that federal election-day statutes set when voters must cast ballots, not when officials must receive them.
• The RNC sued in 2024, arguing federal law makes Election Day the deadline for ballot receipt.
• President Trump called the outcome a "tremendous loss" and renewed his push for voter-ID legislation, CNBC reported.
• Fourteen states plus Washington, D.C., and three territories have similar postmarked-by-Election-Day rules, per Fox News.

What did the Supreme Court rule on mail-in ballots?

The court held that "the federal election-day statutes do not prevent Mississippi from counting absentee ballots postmarked by election day but received up to five days thereafter," CNBC reported, adding that "nothing in the federal election-day statutes requires ballots to be received by election day."

Barrett concluded that an election is defined by when the electorate makes its choice, not when ballots physically reach officials. As long as Election Day is the deadline for voters to cast ballots—as it is in Mississippi—states may allow a brief window for delayed mail delivery without violating federal law.

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented, Fox News reported. Alito warned that counting ballots after Election Day risks undermining public confidence in elections.

Who challenged Mississippi's ballot deadline—and why?

The Republican National Committee and Mississippi Republicans filed suit in 2024, contending that decades-old federal statutes setting a uniform Election Day require ballots to be both cast and received by that Tuesday. A federal appeals court agreed, but the Supreme Court reversed that decision on Monday.

Mississippi's law, enacted after the COVID-19 pandemic, permits certain absentee voters—including seniors and college students—to mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day. Officials may count those ballots received up to five days later. CNBC noted Mississippi is among roughly 30 states that count at least some absentee ballots mailed by Election Day but received afterward.

How did President Trump react to the ruling?

The decision delivers a setback to Trump and GOP efforts to curtail mail-in voting ahead of the midterms, CNBC reported. The president lamented what he called a "tremendous loss" on mail-in ballots at the Supreme Court and doubled down on his push for a voter-ID bill, according to the network.

Monday's ruling leaves state grace-period laws intact just months before voters head to the polls, preserving practices that Republicans had sought to invalidate under federal law.

What does this mean for the 2026 midterm elections?

The ruling removes uncertainty for election officials in states with ballot-receipt grace periods. Voters who mail ballots on or before Election Day but face postal delays can still have their votes counted in jurisdictions with similar rules—including more than a dozen states that accept late-arriving mail ballots if properly postmarked.

For readers tracking how technology and policy shape democracy, this decision is part of a broader fight over voting access and election infrastructure covered in our Future Tech & AI Wonders section. The New York Times noted the justices had been asked to examine the legality of Mississippi's grace period for late-arriving mail-in ballots.