US Supreme Court allows late receipt of mail-in ballots, upholding California law
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- The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that federal law allows states to count mail-in ballots.
- The Court rejected a Republican challenge to California and 13 other states' rules.
- California law counts ballots postmarked by Election Day if received within seven days.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal law allows states to count mail-in ballots cast on or before Election Day.
The 5-4 ruling rejects a Republican challenge to voter law in California and 13 other states, where ballots received after Election Day may be counted if they are postmarked on Election Day or earlier.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) led the push to eliminate these states’ more lenient vote-by-mail laws. Its case targeted voter laws in Mississippi, one of just a few majority-Republican states that counts ballots received after Election Day.
“If we want fair and secure elections, Election Day should mean exactly what it says,” said RNC Chairman Joe Gruters in a statement. “Democrats are inviting chaos at the ballot box by allowing elections to drag on for days and weeks after voters cast their ballots. Republicans are not going to be deterred by this decision, and the RNC will keep fighting to have elections end on Election Day as Americans want.”
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the Supreme Court’s three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — in rejecting the challenge.
In an X post Monday morning, California governor Gavin Newsom wrote that the ruling “is a win for voters, plain and simple.”
“California, like many states, utilizes vote-by-mail to increase participation in our democracy,” the post reads. “Today’s ruling helps ensure mailed-in-ballots get counted and people’s voices are heard through the democratic process.”
California law states that mail-in ballots may be counted if they are postmarked on or before Election Day and received up to seven days after Election Day. In January 2026, California Attorney General Rob Bonta signed a multistate amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold state authority over mail-in ballot receipt deadlines.
“Today’s decision recognizes a basic reality: Mail delays happen. When people vote by Election Day, their ballots should not be discarded because of those delays,” Bonta said in a statement. “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.”
The decision comes just a few months after Trump’s executive order cracking down on mail-in voting. The March 31 order requires Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and the Social Security Administration to compile a voter list of verified U.S. citizens. It states that the U.S. Postal Service is only to send mail-in ballots to voters on the list, and tasks the U.S. Attorney General with prosecuting anyone suspected of sending ballots to ineligible voters.
“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,” said U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) in a Monday statement.
This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 11:13 AM.