Supreme Court Upholds Post-Election Day Ballot Receipt, Preserving Washington’s Vote-By-Mail System
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal law does not prohibit states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day, a decision that preserves Washington state’s universal vote-by-mail system and maintains current election procedures for Clallam County voters.
In a 5-4 decision issued June 29, 2026, in the case Watson v. Republican National Committee, the Court concluded that federal election-day statutes require a voter’s choice to be made by Election Day, but leave the deadline for the receipt of those ballots to the individual states.
The case centered on a Mississippi law allowing the state to count absentee ballots received up to five days after Election Day, provided they were postmarked on time.
A coalition including the Republican National Committee had sued the Mississippi Secretary of State, arguing that federal statutes setting the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the designated “election day” meant ballots must be in the physical possession of election officials by that date.
Writing for the majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected that argument. “The electorate’s choice is made when voting is complete, not when ballots are received,” Barrett wrote, adding that the federal election-day statutes “do not set a deadline for ballot receipt.”
She was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The Local Impact in Clallam County
For Clallam County voters, the ruling means election procedures will remain exactly as they are.
Washington conducts its elections entirely by mail, allowing county auditors to accept and count ballots that arrive days or even weeks after Election Day, so long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day or placed in an official drop box by 8:00 p.m. on election night.
Had the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling—which declared post-Election Day receipt unconstitutional—Washington state would have been forced to fundamentally overhaul its voting infrastructure.
Clallam County voters would have been required to mail their ballots days in advance to guarantee their arrival by Election Day, potentially invalidating legally cast votes that encountered postal delays.
Washington’s ballot timeline was prominently highlighted by the dissenting justices. Under state law, county election officials have up to 21 days to certify general election results.
Justice Samuel Alito—joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and in part by Brett Kavanaugh—dissented, arguing that an election requires an “authoritative choice” that must be finalized on Election Day.
Alito specifically pointed to Washington’s extended counting period as an example of what he views as a problematic system.
“Some States will count mail-in ballots that arrive as late as 21 days after election day. See Wash. Rev. Code §29A.60.190,” Alito wrote.
He argued that allowing ballots to arrive over an extended period “creates greater opportunity for fraud and risks further undermining the public’s confidence in election integrity,” particularly when drawn-out ballot counting changes the projected outcome of tight races.
Looking Ahead
The majority opinion explicitly deferred policy concerns over election integrity and delayed results to lawmakers.
“The question today is not whether requiring ballots to be received by election day is a good or bad idea; the question is whether the idea has made its way into the United States Code,” Barrett wrote, concluding that it has not.
With the legal challenge settled, Clallam County’s Elections and Voter Registration Division will proceed uninterrupted.