A mail ballot dropbox at a polling location inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first day of early voting for a primary election in New York, US, on Saturday, June 13, 2026. New York will hold its primary election on June 23. Photographer: M …
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting a Trump-led challenge.
The decision rejected a Republican-led attack on laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted some number of days after the election, provided they are postmarked by Election Day. The court's decision spares election officials having to change their ballot rules just a few months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections.
In just over half those states, the more forgiving deadlines apply only to ballots cast by military and overseas voters.
The legal challenge was part of Trump’s broader attack on most mail balloting, which he has said breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience in numerous states. Trump has repeatedly claimed that his loss to Joe Biden in 2020 resulted from fraud even though more than 60 court decisions and his own attorney general said that argument had no merit.
The backstory:
In March, the court heard arguments in a case from Mississippi pitting the state against Trump’s Republican administration and the Republican and Libertarian parties. At issue was whether federal law sets a single Election Day that requires ballots to be both cast by voters and received by state officials.
The federal appeals court in New Orleans struck down a Mississippi law allowing ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of the election and are postmarked by Election Day.
The Source: Information in this article includes reporting from The Associated Press and previous FOX Local reporting. This story was reported from Orlando.