A U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows for counting mail-in ballots that arrive at clerks’ offices after Election Day upholds Michigan’s system for counting late-arriving ballots.
The decision Monday in a Mississippi case upholds rules for counting military and overseas ballots that arrive after the polls have closed. Michigan is one of roughly 30 states that allow some type of grace period for mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. Michigan allows overseas mail-in ballots to be counted if they arrive within six days of an election and are postmarked on or before Election Day.
“Voting by people who are United States citizens in the military, living overseas, has always been a challenge,” said Christopher Thomas, who served for 36 years as Michigan elections director. “You may be dealing with other countries' postal services as part of the return process. It’s all basically disadvantageous to them.”
Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson cheered the decision as a victory for voting rights and states’ control over the “method and manner” of elections under the U.S. Constitution.
“It’s a win for military servicemembers and citizens living overseas who can cast their ballot with confidence, knowing that their voice will be heard,” she said in a statement.
“Every Michigan voter has the right to vote by mail, and every state has the constitutional authority to run our own elections,” she said. “We will continue to follow the law and fight to ensure every eligible citizen can vote in every election."
The requirement that overseas and military ballots postmarked by Election Day be counted even if they arrive late is part of a passel of reforms adopted by voters in 2022 as part of a sweeping voting rights amendment.
Christy McGillivray with the group Voters Not Politicians said the decision ensures the amendment adopted with a 60% majority remains enforceable.
“It reaffirms that it is states who decide the method and manner of elections and voting and it reaffirms the choice that Michiganders overwhelmingly made when they supported Prop 22-2 to expand voting rights in Michigan,” she told Michigan Public Radio. “So this is good news.”
But the state Republican Party chair called the decision a disappointment because he thinks it leaves open the door to election mischief.
“Let’s have an Election Day, not election week, not election month, because mischief can occur,” said Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad. “Anyone who knows there’s an election coming up should be mailing their ballot in or bringing their ballot or voting on Election Day without this open door to potential fraud.”
The Supreme Court majority said those concerns should be addressed by Congress or state legislatures, not by the judicial branch.
Last week, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a separate elections related case that the federal government could not force the state of Michigan to turn over confidential data in voter rolls. The Trump administration is expected to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court.
