Mississippi ballot receipt law struck down by court. Swing state Nevada has similar law
A federal appeals court struck down a Mississippi law that allowed mail-in ballots received within five days of the Nov. 5 election to be counted.
A panel of three judges determined Friday the law was in tension with federal law designating a "day for the election," and therefore must be struck down. The lawsuit was brought by the Republican National Committee and the Mississippi Republican Party.
In defending its law, the state suggested that its receipt of ballots isn't a necessary part of voters casting ballots.
"The State's problem is that it thinks a ballot can be 'cast' before it is received," wrote Judge Andrew Oldham, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
If that were true, Oldham suggested, then a state could allow voters to cast ballots by marking them and then putting them in a drawer or posting photos of them on social media.
"The hypotheticals are obviously absurd," Oldham, who was appointed to the court by former President Donald Trump, wrote.
Many states as well as Washington, D.C. allow ballots to be counted that arrive after Election Day, including Nevada, a swing state that requires mailed ballots to be received within four days of the election. In July, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee and Nevada Republican Party to get Nevada's four-day allowance struck down.
Mississippi and Texas are the the only states with such laws within the Fifth Circuit – and so the only states directly impacted by the decision. Texas allows mail-in ballots that are sent by Election Day to be counted if received by the day after the election.
But the ruling interprets federal law that governs the whole country. Federal courts in other areas could come to similar conclusions, or the Supreme Court could do so for the whole country.
"Our Circuit Clerk and Election commissioners will follow the law, whether it be the legislature or the court that decide what that may be!" Tim C. Holleman, a lawyer who represented Mississippi officials in the case, said in an email. "They are here to serve the public and make sure our elections are run efficiently and in accordance with the law to serve the voters!!"
"This is a major win for election integrity, upholding the law and commonsense ballot safeguards," the Republican National Committee said in a press release following the ruling. "Voters deserve nothing less than a fair and transparent election which ends on November 5th."
Judges James Ho and Kyle Duncan, who were also appointed to the Fifth Circuit appeals court by Trump, joined Oldham's opinion.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MS mail-in ballot law struck down. Swing state Nevada has similar law