Mississippi’s mail-in ballot case being appealed to U.S. Supreme Court

• Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear the case, maintaining a three-judge panel’s decision that Mississippi cannot count ballots that arrive after Election Day.

Mississippi officials are filing an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to uphold a COVID-era state law that allowed for ballots to be received and counted up to five days after an election.

Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear a previous ruling from a three-judge panel, maintaining the panel’s decision that Mississippi cannot count ballots that arrive after Election Day.

The court sided with the Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party, the Mississippi Libertarian Party and two private individuals in affirming the prior decision, with ten judges voting to deny a rehearing and five voting in favor.

As previously reported, the plaintiffs sued Harrison County election officials, along with Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, in their official capacities, seeking an injunction against the 2020 mail-in ballot law based on the Election Law Clause of the U.S. Constitution. That clause gives Congress the authority to set the time for choosing the election of the president, senators, and members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. initially dismissed the lawsuit, writing that the Mississippi law “is consistent with federal law and does not conflict with the Elections Clause, the Electors’ Clause, or the election-day statutes.”

However, the three-judge panel at the Fifth Circuit overturned Judge Guirola’s ruling, noting that while states are empowered by Congress to conduct federal elections, federal laws preempt state regulation of elections.

Now, attorneys for the state representing Secretary Watson and the local election officials will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the lower court ruling and allow the state law to remain in place.

Should the U.S. Supreme Court decide to hear the state’s case, the high court’s decision could have broad implications as Mississippi is among over a dozen states with similar laws.