SCOTUS to Debate Late-Arriving Ballots 03/23 06:22

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Monday in a case 
from Mississippi over whether states can count late-arriving mail ballots, a 
target of President Donald Trump.

   The outcome of the case could affect voters in 14 states and the District of 
Columbia, which have grace periods for ballots cast by mail, provided they are 
postmarked by Election Day. An additional 15 states that have more forgiving 
deadlines for ballots from military and overseas voters also could be impacted.

   A ruling is expected by late June, early enough to govern the counting of 
ballots in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

   Forcing states to change their practices just a few months before the 
election risks "confusion and disenfranchisement," especially in places that 
have had relaxed deadlines for years, state and big-city election officials 
told the court in a written filing.

   California, Texas, New York and Illinois are among the states with 
post-Election Day deadlines. Rural Alaska, with its vast distances and often 
unpredictable weather, also counts late-arriving ballots.

   Lawyers for the Republican and Libertarian parties, as well as Trump's 
administration, are asking the justices to affirm an appellate ruling that 
struck down a Mississippi law allowing ballots to be counted if they arrive 
within five business days of the election and are postmarked by Election Day.

   The court challenge is part of Trump's broader attack on most mail 
balloting, which he has said breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the 
contrary and years of experience in numerous states.

   Last year, the Republican president signed an executive order on elections 
that aims to require votes to be "cast and received" by Election Day. The order 
has been blocked in pending court challenges.

   At the same time, four Republican-dominated states -- Ohio, Kansas, North 
Dakota and Utah -- eliminated grace periods last year, according to the 
National Conference of State Legislatures and Voting Rights Lab.

   The issue at the Supreme Court is whether federal law sets a single Election 
Day that requires ballots to be both cast by voters and received by state 
officials.

   In striking down Mississippi's grace period, Judge Andrew Oldham of the 5th 
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that the state law allowing the 
late-arriving ballots to be counted violated federal law.

   Oldham and the other two judges who joined the unanimous ruling, James Ho 
and Stuart Kyle Duncan, all were appointed by Trump during his first term.