The Court’s decision allows California to continue counting ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and arrive up to seven days later, preserving a voting system used by millions of residents.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed down a decision in a case about mailed ballots in Mississippi that left California’s election officials breathing a sigh of relief.
Authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a 5-4 decision on June 29, the nation’s highest court states that count mailed ballots for a certain time after the election, so long as they were postmarked by Election Day, can continue to do so. In California, ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at a local elections office up to seven days after voting has concluded are counted under present law.
Allowing mailed ballots to be counted after Election Day, Secretary of State Shirley Weber said, protects voters from being disfranchised because of mail delays outside their control.
“Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision is a win for voters, for the rule of law and for the future of our democracy,” Weber said. “By rejecting efforts to shorten the vote-by-mail return window, the Court protected an important safeguard that helps ensure service members, overseas voters, Californians with disabilities and rural communities are not silenced by mail delays beyond their control.”
“This ruling makes one thing clear: Our elections belong to the people, not to partisan agendas,” she said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, called the ruling a “win for voters, plain and simple.”
“California, like many states, uses vote-by-mail to increase participation in our democracy. Today’s ruling helps ensure mailed-in-ballots get counted and people’s voices are heard through the democratic process,” Newsom said.
The ruling stems from a case out of Mississippi, which pitted the state against the Trump administration and the Republican and Libertarian parties and raised the question of whether federal statute sets a single Election Day by which all ballots must be in the possession of election offices to count.
This means that, moving forward, Mississippi and other states that currently allow mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive at election offices after voting has ended can continue to do so, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. And that spares election officials from having to scramble just months ahead of the November midterms.
“Today’s decision recognizes a basic reality: Mail delays happen,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “When people vote by Election Day, their ballots should not be discarded because of those delays.”
“Since our nation’s founding, states have been primarily responsible for regulating elections, and we are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has respected that authority,” he said.
Sen. Alex Padilla, who previously served as California’s secretary of state, also hailed the court decision.
“Today’s decision is a victory for voting rights and a rejection of Trump’s attacks on mail and absentee voters,” Padilla said.
“Our democracy works best when as many eligible voters participate and when every eligible vote is counted,” he added. “For decades, Congress and states like California have worked to expand voting rights and access while keeping elections safe and secure — and that includes states exercising the right to accept eligible voters’ ballots postmarked on or before Election Day.”
“While we continue to see unprecedented efforts to interfere with elections from the Trump administration, it is a relief to see federal courts make clear that these attacks on mail and absentee voting are clearly illegal and unconstitutional,” Padilla added.
