Supreme Court to Hear Major Challenge to Mail-In Ballot Laws
Source: New York Times
Nov. 10, 2025, 9:47 a.m. ET
The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would hear a challenge to Mississippis counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day, a case that could upend mail-in rules in dozens of states, creating chaos ahead of the 2026 elections.
The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, asks the justices to determine the meaning of Election Day. It is a potential blockbuster and adds to the courts other elections and voting cases for the term, which include a case about who can sue to challenge Illinois mail-in ballot rules and a challenge to the Louisiana congressional district map that could gut a remaining pillar of the Voting Rights Act.
The Republican National Committee challenged Mississippis mail-in ballot rules, arguing that Congress had intended that voting take place on a single Election Day and that allowing ballots to arrive days later and still be counted undermined election integrity and the publics trust in the vote.
Mississippi argued that Congress only set a date by when voters must make their choice, not the date by when ballots must arrive. Mississippi defended its grace period, which is similar to ones in place in many other states, as allowing elections officials to count ballots that have been mailed by Election Day but arrive a few days after.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/us/politics/supreme-court-mail-ballots-mississippi.html
No paywall (gift)
This argument is BULLSHIT.
The Constitution says no such. It leaves elections "up to the states".
J_William_Ryan
(3,150 posts)Cases the Courts conservatives will use to further disenfranchise Americans and bring about the tyranny of Republican minority rule.
LittleGirl
(8,906 posts)for a decade. Since I moved to Europe in 2014, I could do email voting. It's very secure and every vote I've voted has been counted within minutes of sending the ballot back.
In 2024, I moved to CA and we get a ballot mailed to us along with booklets to explain each candidate, their position and all of the other referendum stuff included in ballots. I never have to leave the house. It's my preferred method of voting. I have been to two voting booths in my life and I'm over 65. I will never vote in person again. F* that.
dickthegrouch
(4,169 posts)If I mail in my ballot for a candidate (particularly in primaries) who then withdraws, suspends their campaign, or dies, my vote has just been rendered useless. I could have made a different choice on election day. True, one day later, my vote still might be rendered moot, but my choice on election day would have been valid.
I will admit that, so far, have only experienced this in terms of donations being wasted. My very first political donation was given to a candidate who withdrew that same day. I would much rather have given it to a candidate who was going to use it to win, than someone who had already lost. It soured my whole outlook on political donations as it had been a sizeable amount (for me), and in my mind utterly wasted. Only two donations have been as generous since.
However, the notion that ballots must be mailed before election day is potentially disenfranchising for these reasons.
Initech
(106,908 posts)What could possibly go wrong?
Bayard
(27,794 posts)How about any members of Congress?