Voting rights experts are praising a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday, which upheld a state’s right to set a grace period for counting mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day, as long as they were postmarked on time.
The challengers to Mississippi’s grace period argued accepting ballots after Election Day threatens election integrity. Supporters of the decision said the U.S. Constitution delegates election administration to the states.
Bernadette Reyes, senior staff attorney for the UCLA Voting Rights Project, said the decision means California can continue its current practice of counting ballots arriving within seven days.
“What they're saying is you cast your vote when you fill out your ballot, and as long as they're postmarked by Election Day, that means that they fulfilled their duty under the Constitution,” Reyes explained.
About 30 states currently offer some sort of grace period for ballots to arrive. President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring states to turn over their voter lists to the federal government. The order instructed the U.S. Postal Service not to process mail-in ballots for people in states refusing to comply. Last week, a judge put the order on hold. Reyes pointed out mail-in ballots are especially useful for Americans living overseas or people with disabilities making it difficult to vote in person.
“Having that big interference with this really important and accessible method of voting would do tremendous damage for voter turnout,” she observed.
President Trump called the decision a “tremendous loss” and urged Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would restrict voting in the name of fighting election fraud.
Voting rights groups hail SCOTUS decision on ballot grace period. The decision was first published by Public News Service and republished with permission.
Suzanne Potter is a Producer with PNS.
