US Supreme Court allows states to count mail-in ballots that arrive late; Trump calls it ‘tremendous loss’
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "US Supreme Court allows states to count mail-in ballots that arrive late; Trump calls it ‘tremendous loss’")
The ruling marks a significant political defeat for President Donald Trump, who called the decision a tremendous loss. Photograph: (AFP)
The top court’s ruling could affect voting deadlines in more than a dozen states that will be pivotal in deciding which party controls Congress after the midterm elections in November. The states that allow late-arriving postal ballots are mostly Democratic-leaning.
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can count mail ballots that are cast by election day but arrive later, rejecting the Trump administration’s push to block the practice. The 5-4 decision upholds a Mississippi law that had permitted the counting of mail-in ballots that were postmarked before election day but arrived up to five days afterwards.
The ruling marks a significant political defeat for President Donald Trump, who called the decision a “tremendous loss”. Trump has repeatedly said that mail-in ballots are vulnerable to fraud.
The states that allow late-arriving postal ballots are mostly Democratic-leaning, although a few Republican-led ones also allow a grace period.
The top court’s ruling could affect voting deadlines in more than a dozen states that will be pivotal in deciding which party controls Congress after the midterm elections in November.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the court’s majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices. In the opinion, Justice Barrett wrote that the ruling does not conflict with existing federal law, which stipulates that the “Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November” is the “day for the election”.
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“The election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose,” she wrote.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito said in his written dissent that the acceptance of late-arriving ballots effectively postpones the date on which the electorate’s choice is made, and federal law precludes that postponement.
“Today’s decision leaves open opportunities for voter fraud that may further undermine Americans’ faith in the integrity of this country’s election,” he wrote. “Diverse sources have recognised that mail-in ballots increase the potential for fraud.”
Trump signed an executive order in March to stop mail-in voting ahead of midterm elections
The US president has repeatedly criticised mail-in ballots and said that the practice prevented him from winning the 2020 election against Joe Biden.
Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, Trump called on lawmakers to pass the Save America Act, which would mandate photo ID and proof of citizenship for voters and also ban mail-in ballots, with exceptions made only in cases of illness, disability, travel or military deployments.
“There is no excuse for a politician, or otherwise, to be against the above three requirements,” Trump said of the Save America Act in a post on Truth Social. “There is only one reason to oppose - cheating.”
Last week, Trump had cancelled the signing of a bipartisan housing bill, saying he would make it a law only if the Save America Act were passed.
Republicans argue that the law requires ballots to be not just postmarked but received by that date.
“Election-day receipt promotes election integrity and voter confidence as much today as it did when Congress passed that law,” the Trump administration told the Supreme Court in a legal brief.
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Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters said after the court’s decision on Monday, “Democrats are inviting chaos at the ballot box by allowing elections to drag on for days and weeks after voters cast their ballots.”
More than a dozen states allow mail-in ballots to be received after election day, including Alaska, Texas, Nevada, Virginia, and California.
“This is a win for voters, plain and simple,” California governor Gavin Newsom said on X. “Today’s ruling helps ensure mailed-in-ballots get counted and people’s voices are heard through the democratic process.”
All 50 states require ballots to be marked and submitted by the day of the election. But in 14 states and the District of Columbia, election officials will accept and count mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but received after that day. Twenty-nine states and D.C. allow at least some military and overseas ballots to be received after Election Day.
