Senate Passes Flawed Election Reform Bill; ACLU Says Bill Would Do More Harm than Good

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Mississippi filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court case Watson v. Republican National Committee on behalf of the League of Women Voters, Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural, Center for Rural Strategies, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and Disability Rights Mississippi (DRMS). The coalition urges the Court not to disrupt the states’ ability to determine mail-ballot receipt rules in their own state and depending on the needs of their voters. Amici explain in their brief that this case is not about changing Election Day. It is about whether century-old federal statutes referencing a uniform “day for the election” were meant to wipe out state rules governing how timely mailed ballots are received and counted. “For over a century, states have crafted absentee voting rules to meet their voters’ needs—rural voters facing unreliable mail service, voters with disabilities who depend on assistance, working families whose jobs keep them away from the polls,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, Director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “Congress has repeatedly recognized and respected these state choices. The Fifth Circuit’s ruling upends this longstanding federalist arrangement, threatening to silence eligible voters whose ballots arrive late through no fault of their own. The Court should reject this novel interpretation and preserve states’ ability to ensure that every timely-cast ballot counts.” Amici urge the Court to hold that federal law does not preempt long-standing state ballot receipt rules for timely cast mail ballots. Amici argue the Court should reject the attempt to unnecessarily and illegally shorten states’ ballot-receipt deadlines: The plain text of federal Election Day statutes is consistent with states holding federal elections on the same day while still allowing states to set reasonable receipt and counting rules for timely cast mail ballots. States and Congress have operated for decades on the shared understanding that Election Day statutes do not preempt state ballot-receipt deadlines for timely mailed absentee ballots. Congress has repeatedly legislated in this area while accommodating—not displacing—state receipt deadlines, including for military and overseas voters. A rigid Election Day receipt rule would curtail states’ ability to design election systems that meet local needs and would increase the risk of disenfranchisement, particularly for voters with disabilities, older voters, rural voters facing mail delays, and workers whose jobs require travel. Watson v. RNC concerns Mississippi’s law allowing election officials to count absentee ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received within a short window after election day. The FUS Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision adopted a novel interpretation of federal election day statutes that would preempt state election administration rules and threaten long-standing state practices across the country. The amicus brief was filed on behalf of the League of Women Voters, the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural, the Center for Rural Strategies, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and Disability Rights Mississippi (DRMS). Counsel for amici is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Mississippi. “This RNC is asking the Court to radically rewrite federal law in a way that would dismantle more than a century of election administration and silence eligible voters through no fault of their own,” said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters. “Congress deliberately refused to impose a uniform day for holding federal elections, recognizing that states must have the flexibility to ensure every lawful vote is counted. They should be ashamed to ask the Court to strip away voting power from people who did everything right. Targeting older voters, people with disabilities, rural communities, and working families is not policy; it is cruelty, dressed up as law.” “In Mississippi, this issue is not abstract; it affects voters who do everything right and still face delays they cannot control,” said Ruth O’Dell, President of the League of Women Voters of Mississippi. “Our ballot receipt window reflects the realities facing older voters, voters with disabilities, and rural Mississippians who depend on mail service, and eliminating it would silence voters who played by the rules and deserve to have their voices heard. The League of Women Voters of Mississippi strongly urge the Court to protect Mississippi voters.” “Voters with disabilities face barriers at every turn in our electoral system,” said Polly Tribble, Executive Director of Disability Rights Mississippi. “Through years of monitoring and data collection, Disability Rights Mississippi advocates have documented widespread and persistent inaccessibility at polling locations across Mississippi. For many voters with disabilities, absentee voting is not merely the most accessible way to cast a ballot, but it is the only viable option. Imposing unprecedented and undue burdens on voters who lawfully vote absentee by mail, particularly in a state with many rural communities with unreliable mail service, would silence Mississippians who already confront systemic barriers and discrimination in their daily lives and civic participation.” “Mississippi like many other states across the country have decided that it is in its best interest to allow some form of absentee voting and to allow those votes to be counted, provided they are mailed on or before election day,” said Joshua Tom, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi. “This practice has been common across the country for years. It helps ensure that all eligible voters - including disabled voters, elderly voters, voters in rural areas - can exercise their right to vote. The Fifth Circuit’s ruling is incorrect as a matter of law and threatens to undermine Mississippi and other states’ ability to manage their elections and ensure eligible voters can have their vote counted.” “Absentee voting is an essential tool for the one in five American voters with disabilities: perhaps they are immunocompromised from chemotherapy and cannot risk being at a crowded polling place, maybe they do not have the stamina to wait in line to vote. Votes are still counted equally if a voter is hospitalized or lacks accessible transportation to get to the polls. In any of those circumstances, there is no legitimate or appropriate reason to fail to count their absentee ballot vote,” said Maria Town, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). “Yet, that's exactly what is at stake in this case. Voting by mail has been proven time and again to have very little risk and result in higher voter participation rates across the board — it is safe, secure, has extremely low rates of 'fraud,' and makes it possible for Americans facing a multitude of barriers to exercise their most sacred civic right and duty. In states like Mississippi, which has some of the highest rates of disability in the United States, accessible absentee voting is a civic necessity to ensure every vote is counted. AAPD urges the Court to protect the voting rights of Americans with disabilities, and to continue to allow states to set their own mail-ballot receipt rules.” Read the amicus brief here: https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2026/01/1.9.26-Watson-v.-RNC-Amicus-Brief.pdf

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