Watson v. Republican National Committee

Public Rights Project filed an amicus brief on behalf of 16 local election officials and local governments supporting Mississippi’s absentee ballot grace period — sometimes called the state’s “postmark law.” The rule allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive up to five days later and still be counted.

In October 2024, an appeals court struck down the law, ruling that federal law requires all ballots to be cast by voters and received by Election Day. The Republican National Committee is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt the appeals court position, which would eliminate absentee-ballot grace periods in at least 15 states.

In the brief, the bipartisan coalition of local election officials and local governments explains why the appeals court decision is impractical for election officials and would undermine state authority and laws that let voters cast provisional ballots. Drawing on their experience running elections, the officials show that eliminating the grace period would dramatically increase administrative burdens nationwide and introduce chaos into the election system.

Update:

On June 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Mississippi’s law doesn’t conflict with federal election day statutes. The court rejected the RNC’s challenge, allowing mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to five days after. Our amicus brief was cited twice by the majority (pages 10 and 13), highlighting, among other things, that receipt of the ballot is not a “magic moment” since administrators take many steps before actually counting the votes.