The Supreme Court just agreed to hear a case that could decide whether mail-in ballots have to arrive by Election Day to count. Right now, Mississippi let’s ballots postmarked by Election Day arrive up to five business days later and still be valid. Republicans are challenging that, and the Court took the case.
Its called Watson v. Republican National Committee, and it started after the 5th Circuit ruled that Mississippis system violated federal law by effectively extending the voting period past Election Day. The ruling reversed a lower court that said the states system was fine.
This isn’t just about Mississippi. Eighteen other states and D.
C. have similar laws that allow mail ballots to arrive late as long as they’re mailed on time. Those rules could all be on the line depending on how the Court rules next year.
The RNC says counting late ballots causes chaos and suspicion. Nineteen states backing Mississippi say the opposite – that blocking these votes would disenfranchise overseas and military voters.
All this comes after Trump’s March executive order telling the DOJ to go after states that count late ballots. Federal courts froze that order, but this Supreme Court case could end up doing what the order couldn’t.
Its just another way to not count citizens vote.