By
Ed Kilgore,
political columnist for Intelligencer since 2015
Mail ballot receipt rules are a state matter unless Congress specifically says otherwise.
In a mild surprise that instantly produced a not-so-mild reaction from President Trump, a 5-4 Supreme Court majority rejected an administration and Republican Party effort to prevent states from counting mail ballots postmarked by Election Day but received later. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority in deciding the case, Watson v. RNC; she was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the Court’s three liberals. Team Trump argued that congressional statutes establishing a uniform Election Day in federal elections take precedence over the laws of 14 states that currently allow post–Election Day ballot receipt. Barrett very simply held that “Election Day,” for purposes of federal law, means the act of casting votes, not the receipt, counting, or certification of votes, which remains entirely up to the states:
