US Supreme Court Upholds Mail Ballots Received After Election Day in Blow to Trump

The US Supreme Court ruled that state laws allowing mailed ballots to be counted even if they arrive after Election Day are legal, provided they were postmarked by Election Day. The decision is drawing attention for its potential impact on the November midterm elections, given President Donald Trump’s long-running opposition to the practice.

In a lawsuit brought in 2024 by the Republican National Committee and the Mississippi Republican Party over Mississippi’s mail voting law, five of the court’s nine justices ruled on June 29 that the system does not violate federal law, rejecting the plaintiffs’ claims.

Under Mississippi law, mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day are counted if they arrive within five business days after the election.

Mississippi is among 14 states and Washington, DC, that allow a grace period for ballots postmarked by Election Day. More than 10 other states allow it on a limited basis for military voters and Americans living overseas.

The plaintiffs argued the policy conflicts with federal law, which sets federal Election Day as the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The Supreme Court rejected that argument.

CNN and The New York Times described the ruling as a political setback for Trump that further darkens the Republican Party’s outlook for the November midterms.

Trump has argued that mail voting creates a risk of election fraud and has urged Congress to pass stricter voter identification legislation. He has also pointed to delays in counting votes in the Los Angeles mayoral primary while officials waited for mailed ballots to be tallied.

The ruling is also attracting attention because two justices generally viewed as conservative — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett — joined the side that dealt a blow to Trump. That is sharpening focus on how the court may rule in other major cases, including one involving birthright citizenship.

Some US media outlets had expected the plaintiffs to prevail given the court’s conservative tilt. That expectation was overturned.

The Wall Street Journal reported that in the 2024 general election, more than 750,000 mail ballots were postmarked and sent before Election Day and arrived during the grace period immediately afterward.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that June 29 brought a major Supreme Court defeat involving voter rights and argued the ruling made it more important to pass the voter ID bill he backs, known as the SAVE Act.

"There is no reason for anyone, politician or not, to oppose three requirements: Every voter must present a photo ID, every voter must provide proof of citizenship, and mail voting should not be allowed except in exceptional cases," he wrote.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said on June 28 that he would convene the House this week and move the SAVE Act through the budget reconciliation process so it could pass the Senate with a simple majority.

With Republicans holding 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats and unable to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster through the normal process, the plan is to classify the SAVE Act as a budget reconciliation measure so it can pass by a simple majority.

Ko Jeong-sam, Hankyung.com reporter, jsk@hankyung.com