SCOTUS Appears Likely to Limit Mail-in Voting

The Supreme Court seems ready to toss out a Mississippi rule that lets mail ballots arrive after Election Day, a move that could ripple through elections nationwide. During arguments Monday, the court's six conservatives signaled strong doubts about the 2020 law, which permits counting ballots postmarked by Election Day if they're received within five business days, even if they are delivered by FedEx, the New York Times reports. At least 18 other states and territories have similar timelines. Mississippi's law was passed with bipartisan support by the GOP-led state legislature during the pandemic, but it was later challenged by the Republican National Committee and the state GOP.

The conservative-leaning Fifth Circuit ruled against the law in 2024. The decision would "override countless state laws from the past 165 years and largely require citizens to vote in person, on Election Day, in their home districts, without the secret-ballot system," Mississippi said in its appeal. During arguments Monday, state officials warned that striking the law could force many states to overhaul their mail voting systems. Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart noted that the Trump administration and plaintiffs in the lawsuit had not submitted a single case of fraud involving late-arriving ballots.

• The RNC and the Trump administration countered that federal law sets a hard Election Day deadline for when ballots must be in officials' hands, arguing late arrivals dilute timely votes and muddy results.
• Conservatives asked sharp questions on how the state could determine when a ballot had been cast and on when a ballot is considered to have been submitted to the state. Reuters reports that Justice Samuel Alito noted that some briefs submitted to the court "have argued that confidence in election outcomes can be seriously undermined if the ?apparent outcome of the election on ?the day after the polls close is radically flipped by the acceptance later of a big stash of ballots that flip the election."

• The three liberal justices pressed back, saying Congress gave states room to design election procedures, including early and mail voting, and voiced concern about fallout for military and overseas voters.
• The AP reports that Paul Clement, representing the Republican and Libertarian parties, clashed with Justice Sonia Sotomayor over late-arriving military ballots. "That is the reddest of red herrings," he said after Sotomayor pointed out that America could have had a different president after the 2000 election if late-arriving military ballots in Florida weren't counted.
• A decision, expected by late June, will land just months before November's elections and comes amid a broader GOP push in Congress to sharply curtail—or even largely ban—mail-in voting. Trump and his allies, claiming, without evidence, that the process is "riddled with fraud," have been pushing to ban mail-in voting since his 2020 election loss, the Washington Post reports.