Supreme Court to hear arguments over meaning of 'Election Day'

Source: Roll Call

Posted March 20, 2026 at 2:01pm


The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Monday over what the phrase “Election Day” means and whether states can accept ballots in federal elections that arrive after that date. Republicans challenged a Mississippi state law, passed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, that allows officials to count ballots that arrive up to five days after the federal Election Day if they are postmarked by Election Day.

The state has asked the justices to overturn a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruling that invalidated the state law, deciding it conflicts with a federal law that sets Election Day as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia have similar laws, and a ruling against Mississippi could send those states scrambling to change rules and communicate to voters to get their ballots in earlier.

Adav Noti, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, said a ruling that wipes out Mississippi’s law could “cause a lot of confusion in those states about voting by mail and voting absentee immediately upon the decision coming down,” Noti said. Noti said states are currently preparing for the midterm elections, and a ruling changing election laws now would upset those efforts.“It is not good to change the rules around elections or voting while elections are happening. That should be done in between elections,” Noti said.

The justices are expected to issue a decision by the end of their term in June, which could avoid nasty post-election fights this year and in 2028.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2026/03/20/supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-over-meaning-of-election-day/