Supreme Court keeps mail-ballot grace periods in place ahead of midterms

The Supreme Court ruled Monday, June 29, 2026, that Mississippi may count absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day and received up to five days later. In Watson v. Republican National Committee, the justices split 5-4, keeping similar grace periods in place in many states as the 2026 midterms approach.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices. The Court said the federal election-day statutes set the day for voting, but they do not require ballots to be received by that same day.

What the ruling changes

The practical effect is straightforward: election officials in states with postmark-based grace periods can keep using current deadlines instead of scrambling for a late-cycle overhaul. The case was about ballots postmarked by Election Day but delivered afterward, not about all mail voting.

Mississippi’s law was at the center of the dispute. The Court held that federal law does not block that setup and did not resolve Congress’s broader power to rewrite federal election rules.

Politics shifts back to Congress

Trump called the ruling a loss and renewed his push for the SAVE America Act, according to AP. For now, that remains a political fight, not a new federal law.

For voters, the immediate takeaway is that grace periods in states that already have them remain in place unless lawmakers change them. For election administrators, the decision removes one source of last-minute uncertainty before the November 2026 midterm elections.

Sources

• U.S. Supreme Court homepage — Today at the Court / Recent Decisions (June 29, 2026)
• Supreme Court opinion text — Watson v. Republican National Committee (Cornell LII)
• Associated Press — Supreme Court rules states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting Trump-led challenge
• CBS News — Supreme Court says states can count mail ballots that arrive after Election Day