A view of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 25, 2026.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Mississippi can continue to count some absentee ballots received after Election Day, rejecting a Republican challenge contending that those votes are invalid under federal law.
The 5-4 opinion, which was written by one of President Donald Trump’s appointees and joined by the court’s three liberals, delivers a blow to ongoing efforts by Trump and the GOP to curtail mail-in voting ahead of the midterms.
“Mississippi is one of roughly 30 States that count at least some absentee ballots mailed by election day but received afterward,” the majority noted in the ruling.
The state allows absentee voters, including seniors and college students, to cast their ballots by mail so long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day and received no more than five days after it.
The Republican National Committee sued in 2024, arguing that the wording of federal election statutes indicates that Election Day itself is the deadline for when ballots can be received.
But the Supreme Court disagreed.
“The federal election-day statutes do not prevent Mississippi from counting absentee ballots postmarked by election day but received up to five days thereafter,” the court held. “Nothing in the federal election-day statutes requires ballots to be received by election day.”
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