Judge rejects GOP challenge to Mississippi timeline for counting absentee votes

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the Republican National Committee that sought to block Mississippi from counting absentee votes which are postmarked on election day but received up to five days later.

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. handed down his ruling Sunday, becoming the second federal judge in recent weeks to reject such a lawsuit.

“Mississippi’s legal procedure for counting lawfully issued absentee ballots, postmarked on or before Election Day, and received no later than five business days after Election Day is consistent with federal law and does not conflict with the Elections Clause , the Electoral Clause or the election day statutes”, wrote Guirola.

Another federal judge recently dismissed a similar lawsuit in Nevadarejecting Republicans’ claims that counting absentee ballots postmarked on Election Day but received days later was unconstitutional and violated federal law.

The Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party, a member of the state’s Republican Executive Committee and an elections commissioner filed the lawsuit in Mississippi in January against Mississippi’s Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson and six local election officials. The Mississippi Libertarian Party later filed a similar lawsuit, and the judge consolidated it with the one filed by the Republican groups.

The lawsuits argued that Mississippi improperly extends federal elections beyond the election date set by Congress and that, as a result, “valid and timely votes are diluted by untimely and invalid votes.”

In dismissing the lawsuits, Guirola wrote that “no ‘final selection’ is made after Federal Election Day under Mississippi law. Everything that happens after Election Day is the delivery and counting of votes cast on or before Election Day.”

Mississippi is one of several states that allow mail-in ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The list includes swing states like Nevada and states like Colorado, Oregon and Utah that rely heavily on mail voting.

Trump for years falsely claimed vote by mail was rife with fraud, but his 2024 campaign is encouraging practice if it is convenient for people.