The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can count mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day if they were postmarked by that date.
The decision preserves the voting practices of more than a dozen states [2] and prevents a nationwide shift in how mail-in ballots are processed. By upholding these laws, the court ensures that voters who mail their ballots on time are not disenfranchised by postal delays.
In a five-four decision [1], the court rejected a legal challenge brought by the Republican National Committee and backed by former President Donald Trump. The RNC said that counting ballots arriving after the polls close violates federal election law.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that the practice does not conflict with federal law, which sets “the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November” as the “day for the election” [3]. The majority found that the federal mandate establishes the date of the election but does not prohibit states from setting their own deadlines for the receipt of postmarked ballots.
The ruling on June 29, 2026 [3], maintains the status quo for jurisdictions that allow a grace period for mail delivery. These states said that a strict Election Day arrival deadline unfairly penalizes voters based on the efficiency of the postal service.
The court's decision ensures that existing state laws regarding late-arriving ballots remain enforceable. This prevents the RNC from blocking the practice across the country, a move that would have fundamentally changed the counting process in several key states.
“The court rejected a legal challenge brought by the Republican National Committee and backed by former President Donald Trump.”
This ruling reinforces the authority of individual states to manage their own election administration and ballot-counting timelines. By interpreting the federal election date as a deadline for casting a vote rather than a deadline for the physical receipt of the ballot, the Court has lowered the risk of mass disenfranchisement due to mail delays while limiting the ability of national political parties to standardize voting deadlines via the judiciary.
