Facts of the Case

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Mississippi law permits mail-in absentee ballots postmarked by federal Election Day to be counted if election officials receive them within five business days afterward, a practice used in roughly thirty states. The Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party, the Libertarian Party of Mississippi, and individual voters sued Secretary of State Michael Watson, arguing that the federal statutes fixing a single national election day preempt the state's post-election receipt window. The district court granted summary judgment for the state officials, but the Fifth Circuit reversed, holding that ballots must be both cast and received by Election Day.

Questions

  1. Do the federal election-day statutes preempt a state law that allows ballots that are cast by federal election day to be received by election officials after that day?

Conclusions

  1. On June 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court held 5-4 in Watson v. Republican National Committee that the federal election-day statutes govern only when ballots must be cast, not when officials must receive them, and therefore do not preempt state laws counting absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day but received in the days after.