Watson v. Republican National Committee (Amicus)

On January 26, 2024, the Republican National Committee, Mississippi Republican Party, and two individuals sued the Mississippi Secretary of State and several local election officials, seeking to overturn a four-year old Mississippi law that allows absentee voters to mail ballots up until Election Day and permits election officials to count those ballots so long as they are postmarked by Election Day and received within five business days after. Various provisions of federal law set Election Day as a single day in November; the challengers argue that by accepting absentee ballots received after Election Day, Mississippi is “holding voting open beyond the federal Election Day,” which they claim “effectively extends Mississippi’s federal election past the Election Day established by Congress.” The district court consolidated this case with a similar challenge brought by the Libertarian Party of Mississippi.

On March 26, 2024, the ACLU, ACLU of Mississippi, Dechert LLP, and Disability Rights Mississippi (DRMS) filed an amicus brief on behalf of DRMS and the League of Women Voters of Mississippi (the League), in support of summary judgment for defendants. The brief focused on two adverse effects that would follow a ruling from in the challengers’ favor. First, construing the federal Election Day statutes to require that all absentee ballots be received on or before Election Day would substantially increase the risk of disenfranchisement, and voters with disabilities—whose rights DRMS is authorized by law to defend—disproportionately rely on mail-in ballots and would bear the brunt of that disenfranchisement. Second, the challengers’ misreading of federal law lacks a principled basis to distinguish between ballot receipt and other post-election acts of election officials—including the processing of absentee ballots, tabulation of votes, adjudication of challenged ballots, resolution of provisional ballots, county canvassing of local results, statewide canvassing of county results, and many steps in between. Accordingly, the challengers’ interpretation of the federal Election Day statutes would destabilize election administration not just in Mississippi but in every state, and it would lead to absurdities that strongly counsel against its adoption.

On July 28, 2024, the district court rejected the challengers’ off-the-wall arguments and granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment, concluding that Mississippi’s absentee ballot receipt deadline does not conflict with the federal election day statute. In reaching this conclusion, the court construed the term “election” to mean the “final selection” of an officeholder and rejected plaintiffs’ claim that ballots are not “cast” until they are received by election officials. Rather, “[a]ll that occurs after election day is the delivery and counting of ballots cast on or before election day.”

The challengers then appealed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On September 9, 2024, the ACLU, ACLU of Mississippi, Dechert LLP, and DRMS filed another amicus brief on behalf of DRMS and the League, in support of affirming the district court’s order. The amicus brief to the Circuit Court raises similar concerns to those presented before the district court. On October 25, 2024, the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of the challengers. It concluded that the federal statutes setting Election Day require that all ballots must be received by that date, not just cast. On March 14, 2025, the full Fifth Circuit declined to rehear the case en banc, with five judges noting their dissent.

The Mississippi officials then asked the United States Supreme Court to hear the case and on November 10, 2025, the Supreme Court granted review. On January 9, 2026, the ACLU and ACLU of Mississippi filed another amicus brief in support of Mississippi’s law. The brief—brought on behalf of DRMS, the League, Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural, Center for Rural Strategies, and the American Association of People with Disabilities—argues that states have a long history of accepting ballots that arrive after Election Day. Congress has repeatedly blessed this practice and even affirmatively incorporated post-Election Day receipt deadlines into other federal laws. A decision from the Supreme Court is expected by June 2026.