An Election Day Deadline for Mail Ballots Is Common-Sense Policy
Chris McIsaac argues that the policy prevents unnecessary delays which can lead to skepticism, as the Supreme Court considers a case related to the issue.
By Chris McIsaac
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could result in a nationwide requirement that all mail ballots must be returned by Election Day in order to be counted. Most states have already adopted this policy; however, 14 states permit late ballots to be counted as long as the envelope is postmarked by Election Day. In the case currently before the Court, Watson v. Republican National Committee, the RNC and Libertarian Party of Mississippi challenged Mississippi’s law allowing late-arriving ballots with a valid postmark to be counted, arguing that the policy conflicts with the definition of “Election Day” in federal law. If the Court strikes down the Mississippi law, all states with similar laws will likely need to shift to an Election Day mail ballot receipt deadline before the 2026 midterm elections.
Regardless of how the Court rules, an Election Day mail ballot deadline remains a common-sense policy that states should adopt on their own because it reduces the risk of unnecessary reporting delays. In addition, mail ballot data from the 2024 election suggest that most voters will adjust their behavior in response to the new deadline, limiting the risk of widespread disenfranchisement. However, ensuring a smooth transition in the states that make the change will require proactive communication to voters about the new deadline, particularly if it applies to the 2026 midterms.
The deadline by which a mail ballot must be returned in order to be counted is an important state policy decision. The two main approaches are to set an Election Day receipt deadline or an Election Day postmark deadline. In the 36 states with a receipt deadline, mail ballots must arrive at an election office or be deposited in a drop box by Election Day in order to be counted. On the other hand, the 14 states with a postmark deadline will count ballots that arrive for a certain number of days after the election if they are postmarked on or before Election Day. The length of time states will accept late-arriving ballots range from a single day in Texas to up to three weeks in Washington.
From an administrative perspective, the benefit of an Election Day ballot receipt deadline is straightforward: It provides certainty to election officials on Election Day regarding the total number of ballots to be processed. Allowing ballots to arrive after Election Day introduces ambiguity into the ballot counting process during the critical time between the close of polls and the certification of results. In most cases, this will not impact how quickly an election winner is determined because the margin of victory is large enough where the late arriving ballots will not impact the outcome. However, in tight races, waiting for late ballots to arrive can lead to reporting delays that create a golden opportunity for false claims to gain traction. While Election Day ballot receipt deadlines do not eliminate the risk of delays and the spread of election misinformation, they do remove one major variable that can undermine the timely reporting of results.
One of the primary concerns around an Election Day ballot receipt deadline is that the policy unnecessarily raises the likelihood that a voter’s ballot will be rejected due to an uncontrollable event (e.g., postal delay, personal emergency) that prevents the voter from mailing the ballot as early as intended. These scenarios are certainly possible, but a review of mail ballot data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) suggests that the overwhelming majority of voters in states with an Election Day ballot deadline were able to comply in 2024.
According to the EAC, American voters returned nearly 48 million mail ballots in the 2024 election. Of those, 20 million ballots were returned in states with an Election Day ballot receipt deadline. Meanwhile, an estimated 100,000 ballots were not counted because they arrived after the deadline. This translates to a mail ballot rejection rate (due to missing an Election Day ballot deadline) of approximately 0.5 percent among ballots cast in states that do not count late arrivals.
Unsurprisingly, states that permit late arriving ballots reported a higher share arriving after Election Day. While this data is not captured in the EAC report, separate independent analyses estimated that at least 725,000 to 750,000 late arriving ballots were counted in states with a postmark deadline, accounting for more than 2.5 percent of the 28 million mail ballots that were returned in those states in 2024.
The difference between 0.5 percent of ballots arriving late in states where they will not be counted and 2.5 percent arriving late in states where they will be suggests that voters respond to incentives and are likely to follow the law in place where they live. In states that require ballots to arrive by Election Day, the vast majority of voters find a way to submit their ballots on time. Meanwhile, a portion of the electorate in states that permit ballots to arrive later take advantage of that flexibility. As states move to an Election Day deadline, it is reasonable to assume that most voters who are aware of the change will update their behavior accordingly and submit their ballots earlier to meet the new deadline.
That said, a Supreme Court decision requiring states to adopt the Election Day ballot deadline before the 2026 midterms is likely to pose some implementation challenges, as election officials will have limited time to educate the public about the new deadline. To mitigate this risk, election officials in some impacted states have already begun communicating with voters about the potential need to comply with new ballot deadline. While it is always preferable to enact election policy changes with ample lead time for implementation, changes driven by court decisions rarely provide election workers with that luxury.
Requiring mail ballots to arrive by Election Day is a reasonable policy that would ideally be enacted on a state-by-state basis with ample lead time before the next election. However, if the Supreme Court rules this summer that counting mail ballots that arrive after Election Day violates federal law, election officials in 14 states may need to quickly update policies in time for the 2026 midterms. While the tight turnaround could lead to a bumpy transition, Election Day ballot receipt deadlines are the right policy over the long term to reduce the risk of reporting delays and build trust in American elections.
Chris McIsaac is a Resident Fellow, Governance, at the R Street Institute, where he prepares research and analysis on electoral reform and budget policy.