Supreme Court lets states count late mail ballots, preserving grace periods

What the Court decided

On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in Watson v. Republican National Committee to let Mississippi count absentee ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received up to five business days later. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The Court said the federal election-day statutes set the day for voting, but do not require mailed ballots to be received by that same day.

The Court described the dispute as narrow: it did not decide the general legality of absentee voting, and it did not resolve Congress’s broader authority to regulate federal elections. In practical terms, the ruling reversed the Fifth Circuit and left Mississippi’s grace period intact.

Why it matters now

AP reported that the decision preserves mail-ballot grace periods in 14 states for regular mail ballots, and it also avoids a last-minute scramble before the 2026 midterm elections. AP said another 15 states have similar windows for military and overseas voters.

The ruling does not change mail voting nationwide. It answers a narrower question: whether federal election-day statutes force a mailed ballot to be in an election office by Election Day even when state law gives voters a short postmark-based receipt window. The Court said no.

What to watch next

For voters in states with existing grace periods, the immediate rule stays the same unless lawmakers change it. The next fight is likely political rather than judicial, because the Court left broader election-regulation questions for another day.

Sources

• U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Watson v. Republican National Committee
• Associated Press report on late-arriving mail ballots
• SCOTUSblog analysis of the opinion