Supreme Court delivers big blow to Trump’s plan to limit mail-in voting

Supreme Court delivers big blow to Trump’s plan to limit mail-in voting Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court’s three liberal justices - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments The Supreme Court upheld a key election policy in Mississippi that allowed mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day to be counted, marking a loss for the Republican party, which brought the case ahead of the November midterms. In a 5-4 decision issued Monday, the high court found that Mississippi’s measure does not violate federal statutes that establish Election Day as the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority. She was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices in upholding the state’s policy. The court’s four other conservative justices dissented. “The Framers recognized the difficulty of crafting election laws 'applicable to every probable change in the situation of the country,’” wrote Barrett, who was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump. “So instead of constitutionalizing election law, they decided that 'a discretionary power over elections' needed to be lodged 'somewhere,’” she wrote. “Suffice it to say, that power was not lodged in this Court. The election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose.” In a dissenting opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote: “If ballots received after election day are added to the set of ballots that dictate the election’s outcome, the electorate’s choice does not occur on election day, and the federal election-day statutes are violated.” The ruling stemmed from a challenge to a Mississippi law that allowed mail-in ballots to be counted up to five business days after Election Day, so long as they were postmarked by Election Day. Like other states, Mississippi passed the law in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic to give people more time to vote because in-person activities were restricted and mail services were overwhelmed. But four years later, the Republican Party of Mississippi, the Republican National Committee, and several others sued to have the law repealed, arguing that it conflicted with federal law. The ruling is a loss for President Donald Trump, who has long railed against mail-in ballot voting and vowed to get rid of the voting method for good. Mail-in ballots tend to skew in favor of Democratic candidates because Democrats are more likely to vote by mail than Republicans, according to data collected during the 2024 election. But Trump has misrepresented mail-in ballot voting as a method for Democrats to “cheat,” despite there being no evidence of mass voter fraud by mail. The ruling could impact other states with similar laws, including Alaska, California, D.C., Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Several U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, also allow for ballots to be counted after Election Day. Monday’s ruling is just the latest in a series of decisions that will impact the upcoming midterm elections. In April, the court stripped a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, making it more difficult to challenge a congressional map on racial discrimination grounds. Also on Monday, the court handed Trump another setback by rejecting his bid, at least for now, to fire Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook. In a separate case, the justices gave him more room to assert control over other independent federal agencies. This is a breaking news story, more follows... Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments [Image text:] POSTALSERVICE UNITEDS LABEL OTHER END LAEE OTHE UNITEDSTA