From Fox News: The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday appeared poised to overturn state laws from Mississippi and other U.S. states that allow for the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day — a major case that could upend voting laws for millions of Americans just months before the 2026 midterm elections.
At issue is a Mississippi voting law that allows the state to count mail-in ballots that are received up to five days after the election, so long as they are postmarked by or before Election Day.
President Donald Trump has focused on mail-in voting during his second White House term, and has argued that such laws undermine voter confidence. Similar laws are currently on the books for at least 13 states and the District of Columbia, in a sign of the wide-ranging nature of the case.
During roughly two hours of oral arguments Monday, conservative justices appeared sympathetic to the argument made by the Trump administration’s lawyer, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who noted that the Mississippi law and similar voting laws in other states could erode voter trust in election results.
The conservative justices voiced concerns that if Mississippi is allowed to count ballots received five days after Election Day, that could open up a bigger can of worms, as other states could extended it even farther.
Justice Samuel Alito said the issue raises other questions, such as how long a grace period can be and whether ballots have to be postmarked.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh warned, “If the apparent winner the morning after the election ends up losing due to late arriving ballots, charges of a rigged election could explode.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly stressed that there should be no mail-in ballots allowed, except for “illness, disability, or military.”
CBS News explained in a separate report:
All 50 states require ballots to be marked and submitted by Election Day. But 14 states and the District of Columbia have enacted so-called grace periods, in which ballots that are postmarked by Election Day can be counted if they arrive after that day. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia allow at least some military and overseas ballots to be counted if they’re received after Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Four states — Kansas, North Dakota, Ohio and Utah — passed laws last year eliminating grace periods and now require mail ballots to be received by Election Day in order to be counted.
The Supreme Court is expected to announce a decision on the case by late June or early July.
DEVELOPING: The U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to STRIKE down state laws that allow mail-in ballots to be COUNTED up to 5 days after Election Day.
Shannon Bream: “This stems from a Mississippi law that says you can get ballots counted up to 5 business days after election… pic.twitter.com/41X2ad5p3v
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) March 23, 2026
The Supreme Court weighs if states can count mail ballots that are postmarked by, but arrive after, Election Day. https://t.co/bLq8oSvK3u
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 23, 2026
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