Mail Ballots

In Watson v. RNC, the Supreme Court reversed a Fifth Circuit statutory-interpretation opinion. The issue was whether federal “election day” laws require absentee ballots to be received by election day, or only cast by then.

The Fifth Circuit gave substantial weight to historical election practice, reasoning that, when Congress adopted the federal election-day statutes, an “election” generally involved both the voter’s act and the official receipt of the ballot on the same day.

The Supreme Court took a more text-centered path. It focused on the ordinary meaning of “election” as the electorate’s choice, and held that this choice is made when voting is complete—not when a ballot physically arrives. The Court also found support in another federal statute’s use of state ballot-receipt deadlines, while treating the historical record as too uncertain to add a receipt deadline that Congress did not expressly write. No. 24-1260 (U.S. June 29, 2026).