Alito/Roberts Court appears to be on the verge of forcing states like WA to discard ballots not received by Election day [View all]

The United States Supreme Court seems poised to force states like Washington and Oregon to discard ballots returned through the United States Postal Service that aren’t delivered by Election Night, judging by comments made by the Court’s authoritarian bloc during today’s oral argument in Watson v. Republican National Committee.

That’s the name of the legal challenge filed by enablers of Donald Trump (the Republican and Libertarian parties) against the State of Mississippi and its Secretary of State Michael Watson, a case the Court accepted for review not long ago.

The parties’ goal: Get the Supreme Court to invalidate laws in at least eighteen states and territories that allow ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even when they are delivered after Election Day, a practice that has been taking place for decades here in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere across the country.

Egged on by Donald Trump, who calls voting at home “cheating,” even though he does it himself — as recently as this weekend! — the Republicans and Libertarians are asserting in the courts that federal law doesn’t allow states to accept ballots for processing after Election Day is over — a problematic interpretation of federal law that was rejected in district court, but accepted by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/03/alito-roberts-court-appears-to-be-on-the-verge-of-forcing-states-like-washington-to-discard-ballots-not-received-by-election-night.html