Appeals court backs GOP over Mississippi mail-in voting law: NPR

A county worker in Jackson, Miss., reaches for another “I Voted” sticker on Nov. 7, 2023.

Rogelio V. Solis/AP

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Rogelio V. Solis/AP

A conservative U.S. appeals court has sided with Republicans and ruled against a Mississippi law that allows election officials to count mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive later.

The ruling from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals – which has jurisdiction over Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas – does not take effect immediately, and the justices have sent the matter back to a lower court for further review. The decision is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In its ruling Friday, a panel of all Trump-appointed 5th Circuit judges overturned a lower court ruling and wrote that acceptance of ballots ends on “Election Day” set by Congress.

“Text, precedent, and historical practice confirm that this 'Election Day' is the day on which ballots must both be cast by voters and received by state officials,” the court wrote. “Because Mississippi law allows ballots to be received up to five days after the day of the federal election, federal law precludes it.”

The justices declined to grant Republicans' initial request for a preliminary injunction, sending the matter back to the lower court for “further proceedings to develop appropriate remedies while recognizing the value of preserving the status quo in a voting case the night before.” to be given due consideration.” a choice.' ”

The GOP argument against election deadlines

The Republican National Committee, along with the Trump campaign, filed several lawsuits in various states ahead of this year's general election, seeking to invalidate ballots received after Election Day.

About 20 states and Washington, DC accept and count mail-in ballots received after Election Day. (Many states require that these ballots be postmarked on or before Election Day.) States grant these grace periods in the event that voters forget to return their mail-in ballots on time, if there are problems with the postal service, or if other unforeseen problems such as bad ones occur Weather and natural disasters.

But the GOP has argued that states do not have the right to decide when to stop accepting ballots.

Conor Woodfin, who represented the Republican Party at oral arguments in the 5th Circuit, told the court that “the meaning of Election Day does not depend on the subjective views” of individual states.

“After decades of Congress establishing a single national election day, these words came to mean the day ballots were received by election officials,” he said.

Republicans also argued in their lawsuit that mail-in voting disproportionately harms them because “mail-in voting is highly polarized by party.”

“For example, according to the MIT Election Lab, 46% of Democratic voters cast their ballots by mail in the 2022 general election, compared to just 27% of Republicans,” they wrote in their challenge. “That means late-arriving mail-in ballots, which will be counted for five more days, represent disproportionate breaks for Democrats.”

This legal challenge in Mississippi is part of a larger effort by the Republican Party, including in the swing state of Nevada, to invalidate certain mail-in ballots.

Democrats say the GOP cases don't reflect “modern reality.”

Democrats have described these particularly legal challenges as “fringe lawsuits” aimed at sowing distrust in elections.

Joyce Vance, a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, said the lawsuits are part of the Republican Party's efforts to “make it harder for some Americans” to vote.

“The RNC is really trying to set up a possible rule going forward that only counts ballots that are cast and counted on Election Day,” she told NPR. “And that may have been great in the 19th century when farmers went to market on a Tuesday and cast ballots in town, but it doesn't reflect the modern reality where we have early voting days and mail-in voting days, um “To take into account the fact that not everyone can come to vote on a Tuesday during normal business hours.”

Vance said lifting grace periods for mail-in ballots would have a disproportionate impact on military members and their families — particularly those living overseas — as well as people with disabilities or a medical condition.

“So all kinds of people who are fully eligible to vote would be deprived of their right to vote by a regulation that prevents the counting of ballot papers on election day itself,” she said. “I think the main concern is really making it harder for some Americans to vote.”

Caren Short, legal and research director for the League of Women Voters of the United States, said in a statement that states should “make voting more accessible to voters — not less.”

“If a state allows voting by mail, it cannot disqualify voters who follow the rules and cast their ballot by postmarking it by Election Day,” she said. “Our democracy is stronger when all votes are counted, regardless of how you vote.”

Vance said this case will likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it is “anyone's guess” whether the court will accept the challenge – and whether the case will be resolved before the end of this year's election.