Supreme Court Allows Counting of Mail-in Ballots Arriving After Election Day

According to the court, around 30 U.S. states apply a comparable rule that accepts ballots postmarked after Election Day even later. At the same time, the ruling emphasizes that individual states can determine themselves up to which point timely-postmarked mail-in ballots may still be counted.

Reaction from the White House

The ruling came just months before the congressional elections scheduled for November, also known as the midterms. Had the Supreme Court ruled in Trump's favor, states would have had to adjust their rules only months before the fall congressional election. Since the decision came only on Election Day itself and the case originated from the previous congressional election cycle, observers see it as a relevant cornerstone for the upcoming election.

U.S. President Donald Trump had criticized the Mississippi rule and mail-in voting as a whole. On his platform Truth Social, he wrote that the ruling makes passage of the SAVE America Act he supports "more important than ever." The law, pushed by Republicans, provides, among other things, for stricter citizenship documentation when registering for federal elections and is currently blocked in the Senate. Core components of corresponding executive orders by Trump have already been blocked by federal courts.

Other Rulings on the Session Day

Trump has repeatedly linked mail-in voting to election fraud without providing evidence. Most recently, he had spoken out in favor of an extensive end to mail-in voting, with exceptions for, for example, military personnel, the sick, and people with disabilities. According to statistics, Democrats disproportionately make use of the option of mail-in voting.

On the same day, the Supreme Court also rejected an attempt by Trump to overturn a lower-court ruling requiring him to pay a journalist five million dollars (approximately 4.4 million euros) in damages for sexual abuse and subsequent defamation. The court also denied a request by the government in its dispute with the U.S. Federal Reserve – meaning Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook can remain in office for the time being. The justices justified this mainly on the grounds that Cook had not been given sufficient opportunity to respond to the allegations before her dismissal and emphasized the more than 200-year-old U.S. tradition of a central bank independent from political influence. That independence is crucial for trust in monetary policy and financial stability. The court proceedings surrounding her personnel matter will continue in the lower court.

Reported from Washington by dpa-AFX.

Overall, the Supreme Court's decision was a close one and came on a Monday – typical for the court's session calendar. The justices left open what practical consequences the decision will immediately have for other states, since most of them already apply similar deadlines in any case.