Protect Democracy and the Campaign Legal Center file Supreme Court brief arguing that Mississippi can set its own ballot receipt deadlines

On Jan. 9, the Campaign Legal Center and Protect Democracy filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in the case Watson v. Republican National Committee, which asked whether it is acceptable under federal law for Mississippi to count ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received within five days. On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Mississippi’s favor, affirming the central argument of the brief.

The amicus brief argues that Mississippi is within its rights to set its own ballot receipt deadlines.

In addition to Mississippi, roughly 30 states (as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia) have enacted laws that permit at least some mail ballots to be received after Election Day. The brief explains why the federal election-day statutes don’t interfere with all of these states’ laws, or any state’s ability to set its own ballot receipt deadlines — a position the Court adopted in its majority opinion.

“The Constitution grants states both the authority and duty to administer elections, as the Founders believed states are best positioned to exercise this critical democratic role. Mississippi’s law is consistent with the Constitution, and it allows voters whose ballots are postmarked by Election Day to participate in our democracy,” said Jane Bentrott, counsel at Protect Democracy. “The Supreme Court got this right. A ruling the other way would have been a radical break with American democratic norms and would have disrupted not only Mississippi’s election laws and processes, but also those of roughly 30 other states.”