The US Supreme Court backed yesterday state laws that allow mail-in ballots received after Election Day to be counted, rejecting a Republican-led challenge to a five-day grace period in Mississippi and dealing a setback to President Donald Trump.
The justices in a 5-4 ruling overturned a lower court’s decision that had deemed Mississippi’s law inconsistent with US statutes that set the timing of federal elections – for the presidency, Senate and House of Representatives.
Trump last year vowed to end the use of mail-in ballots nationwide before this November’s midterm elections, when his fellow Republicans are seeking to retain control of Congress.
The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberals in the majority. Barrett authored the ruling.
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the decision.
Mississippi’s law permits mail-in ballots to be counted if they were postmarked on or before Election Day but received up to five business days after a federal election.
Absentee voting by mail in Mississippi is limited to a few categories of voters including people age 65 and above, the disabled and those living away from home.
About 30 states and the District of Columbia accept at least some ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day but received afterward.
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