THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
A case is pending at the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) regarding the right of voters sending mail-in ballots to have their votes counted if they are cast and postmarked by election day, but received after Election Day. This particularly affects U.S. citizens living overseas, where mail may take some time to arrive at the correct address in the U.S.. A total of 30 states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories allow “grace periods”, requiring timely mailed ballots to be counted if received within a specified time after Election Day.
The Republican National Committee and Mississippi Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit in January 2024, Watson v. Republican National Committee, which sought to stop the Mississippi secretary of state, the Harrison County circuit court clerk, and the Harrison County election commissioners from counting mail-in absentee ballots after Election Day.
In July 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi rejected their arguments, found in favor of the election officials and dismissed the case. The Republican groups then appealed that decision. In October 2024, the Fifth Circuit reversed part of the District Court’s ruling and vacated it in part, stating that federal election-day statutes require ballots for federal office to be cast and received by Election Day, which preempts the Mississippi law.
On January 9, 2026 an amicus brief (supplemental, expert information or arguments by parties with a strong interest in, but not involved in, a case) was presented at SCOTUS regarding the matter by 64 individuals and organizations including the Paris-based Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO), the U.S. Vote Foundation, retired defense officials, military leaders and diplomats, and other organizations, urging the Court to respect state law grace periods. They were represented by the Brennan Center for Justice and local counsel Covington & Burling LLP. They said that adopting the RNC move would “cast aside the careful policy choices that states have made to address the needs of their voters”.
The brief emphasized that this would fly in the face of at least a century of congressional and state legislation that protects the right to vote. “Grace periods have been enacted to partially alleviate the unique barriers to voting faced by overseas voters. The Court must rule to keep them in place and, in view of the approaching 2026 elections, do it swiftly,” said Doris Speer, President of AARO.
