Hands Down Ruling in Closely Watched Mail-In Voting Battle

In the final stretch of its 2026 term, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a closely watched ruling that could reshape how millions of Americans vote by mail and alter election procedures in states across the country.

The court ruled that election officials may count mail-in ballots, even if they arrive after Election Day, as long as they were postmarked beforehand. The 6-3 ruling marks a major setback to President Donald Trump’s plan to alter the American voting system, but according to Nicole Robinson, a political law attorney, strategist, and commentator, the court came to the right decision.

“Nothing in the text or the structure or the legislative history of the federal election day statute says that votes have to be counted by election day,” she told us after the ruling. “We have almost 200 years of history to show that. So for them to have ruled with the Republican National Convention (RNC) in this case, that would have really been terrible for the American people, and it would have been laughable.”

At issue was whether states may count mail ballots that arrive after Election Day if they were postmarked on or before Election Day, a practice currently permitted in dozens of states and in Washington, D.C. The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, arose from a challenge to a Mississippi law allowing election officials to count ballots received up to five business days after Election Day so long as they were mailed on time.

The case focused on a simple question: Does a ballot have to arrive by Election Day to count, or does it just have to be mailed by then? Mail-in voting has been used in America since before the Civil War, according to the Smithsonian. And for Black people, the debate over voting has a long and painful history.

“People of color and Black people specifically– Black people particularly in the South– have used mail-in voting as a way to make sure that they’re safe,” Robinson continued. Throughout history, Black folks were often met with violence, racial intimidation and terrorism when they would show up to vote in person. Decades after the racist Jim Crow era, and Black Americans, especially those in the South, still rely on mail-in voting.

Robinson explained the decision carries significant implications beyond Mississippi. At least a dozen states and Washington, D.C., already have laws allowing some mail ballots to arrive after Election Day and still be counted if they were mailed on time. Election officials warned that striking down those provisions could lead states to rewrite election procedures before future elections.

“They’re military personnel overseas, some of whom these grace periods were specifically designed for, but then you also have elderly voters who tend to vote by mail more frequently than the rest of the population,” the expert told us. “People living in rural communities who sometimes have a difficult time getting to their polling place in person tend to vote by mail.”

Supporters of Mississippi’s law said grace periods help ensure eligible voters are not disenfranchised because of postal delays. Opponents argued that federal elections should conclude on a single uniform day and that extended ballot-receipt deadlines undermine consistency in election administration.

Trump claimed mail-in voting invites a significant risk of fraud. But as Robinson explained, data and history suggest there is low risk with the current system.

“If there were some voter fraud in mail-in voting, the Republican Party would be able to easily pull up numbers and percentages and examples,” she told The Root. “That is just another tactic of President Trump and the Republican Party to try to convince their base that people should have to go to the polls on a certain day at a certain time to be able to exercise their right to vote.”

The court has yet to rule on another highly-anticipated case, that of birthright citizenship, we previously told you. But despite the high court delivering a win for American democracy, Robinson continued that all Americans should remain vigilant.

“You still might see state legislatures who tried to change their voting laws at the last minute to not allow mail-in votes to be counted. Voters should try to make sure if they’re using mail-in voting, vote as early as possible,” she said.