TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Oct 28, 2024

A U.S. appeals court has ruled it is illegal for states to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day. The decision came in a case challenging Mississippi's five-day grace period. While the court did not order immediate changes to the state's procedures, it did call into question mail-in voting practices used in about 20 states, Reuters reports. The ruling from the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals leaves it up to a lower court to decide what to do next, but emphasized it is important to preserve the status quo ahead of the Nov. 5 election. The decision applies only to states under the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction.