Supreme Court allows states to count mail-in ballots that arrive late, rejecting RNC challenge

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that elections officials may count mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day if postmarked by Election Day, upholding Mississippi's law allowing ballots received up to five days late to be counted.
• The decision, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett and joined by two conservatives and three liberals, rejects the Republican National Committee's challenge and maintains consistency with federal law setting Election Day.
• This ruling preserves similar late-arrival ballot counting laws in 14 states, including California, New York, and Texas, ahead of the 2024 midterm elections, affecting a notable portion of votes.
• The ruling is a setback for President Donald Trump, who has criticized mail-in voting as fraudulent without evidence, and it avoids disruption to election procedures involving overseas and military voters.
• The RNC and other parties challenged the law after a lower court ruled ballots must be received by Election Day, but the Supreme Court affirmed states' authority to set election administration rules within federal guidelines.