RNC Challenge to Mississippi's Mail-In Ballot Deadline to Be Heard by 5th Circuit
Mississippi currently permits mail-in ballots to be counted up to five business days after an election, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day. The Republican National Committee (RNC) is challenging this law, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument on the matter Tuesday.
The RNC, along with the Mississippi GOP and two Republican voters, filed this lawsuit back in January, against Secretary of State Michael Watson (R) and county election officials.
The GOP plaintiffs argued that the state election law about the mail-in ballot receipt deadline “effectively extends Mississippi’s federal election past the Election Day established by Congress” and results in “valid ballots” being “diluted by untimely, invalid ballots.”
The Republicans specifically argued this law harms their party because, during the 2022 election, significantly more Democrats voted by mail than their GOP counterparts.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/rnc-challenge-to-mississippis-mail-in-ballot-deadline-to-be-heard-by-5th-circuit/
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The case in Mississippi is one example of a nationwide effort by Republicans to invalidate mail ballots over issues unrelated to whether they were cast by a legitimate voter.
Gary Wilson, right, a poll worker in a Rankin County precinct, hands an “I Voted” sticker to a person who filled out a ballot Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
By Patrick Marley and Colby Itkowitz
September 24, 2024 at 7:23 p.m. EDT
A panel of federal judges heard arguments Tuesday in a case that could upend the rules for counting a sliver of mail ballots in Mississippi just weeks before Election Day, with possible ramifications for all states.
At issue is a Mississippi law that allows mail ballots to be counted if they arrive up to five days after Election Day and are postmarked by Election Day or earlier. Seventeen other states and Washington, D.C., have laws allowing postmarked mail ballots to be counted if they arrive after Election Day, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures.
The case in Mississippi is one example of a nationwide effort by Republicans to invalidate mail ballots over issues unrelated to whether they were cast by a legitimate voter. Republicans say they want to ensure states strictly follow voting laws, while Democrats and voting rights advocates say Republicans are trying to throw out otherwise valid votes because Democrats have disproportionately embraced mail voting.
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By Patrick Marley
Patrick Marley writes about voting issues in the Upper Midwest for The Washington Post. He previously covered the Wisconsin Capitol for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.follow on X @patrickdmarley
By Colby Itkowitz
Colby Itkowitz is a national politics reporter for The Washington Post. She joined the Post in March 2014. Before coming to the Post, Colby was the D.C. correspondent for The (Allentown) Morning Call and a reporter at Congressional Quarterly.follow on X @colbyitkowitz