SCOTUS Has a Chance to Kill Mail-Ballot Grace Periods

Mississippi asked the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to rule on the state’s ballot receipt deadline law. The Republican-backed case gives the justices a chance to rule that states can no longer accept ballots that arrive after Election Day, even if they’re postmarked on or before it.

Under Mississippi law, mail-in ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day are  counted, so long as they are received within five business days of the election. Fifteen other states, and Washington, D.C., have grace periods of varying lengths.

As Democracy Docket recently reported, eliminating mail-in ballot grace periods has lately emerged as a goal for the GOP. In recent years, the Republicans have filed lawsuits in California, Illinois, Nevada and North Dakota —in addition to Mississippi — to end the practice. A slew of GOP-controlled states have also passed laws cracking down on grace periods. Congress also has held hearings touching on the issue. 

In addition, President Donald Trump’s anti-voting order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “take all necessary action” against any states that count absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day. The order also directs the federal Election Assistance Commission to withhold federal funding from states that count votes they received after Election Day. 

Eliminating grace periods could have a huge impact on the viability of mail voting, leaving large numbers of voters at the mercy of the U.S. Post Office to ensure they aren’t disenfranchised. Officials in Washington State, for instance, have said that more than 250,000 valid ballots arrived after Election Day last year. 

The petition filed by Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson (R) Friday stems from a lawsuit filed in January 2024 by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the Mississippi Republican Party and several voters seeking to overturn the state’s ballot receipt deadline law. The lawsuit argued that the five-day grace period for election offices to receive and count mail-in ballots “effectively extends Mississippi’s federal election past the Election Day established by Congress” and results in “valid ballots” being “diluted by untimely, invalid ballots.” 

The RNC alleged that Mississipp’s law violates the First and 14th Amendments, as well as federal law, which they argued sets “one specific day as the uniform, national Election Day for federal office.” 

In July 2024, a district court upheld Mississippi’s law, but the RNC appealed the case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court reversed the district court’s decision in October, declaring that Mississippi’s mail-in ballot receipt deadline violates federal law. The ruling didn’t apply to the 2024 election because the 5th Circuit sent the case back to trial court to determine how to implement it.

It’s not the only ballot receipt deadline case before SCOTUS. Earlier this week, SCOTUS agreed to hear a similar case in Illinois, but focusing on the issue of standing for federal candidates to challenge state laws. But should the nation’s highest court rule against Mississippi’s mail-in ballot receipt deadline it would affirm the goal of Trump’s order, potentially disenfranchising millions of voters.