Lawsuit Targets Mississippi Policy Allowing Mail Votes to Be Counted After Election Day

Spencer Brown | January 29, 2024 1:00 PM

In Mississippi, mail-in ballots received after Election Day are still counted as long as they bear a postmark from before or on the date of an election — a policy that is now being challenged by a lawsuit launched by the Republican National Committee and the Mississippi Republican Party.

Part of the RNC's work in conjunction with state parties to tighten election laws and make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, the new lawsuit targets the current Mississippi post-Election Day ballot deadline that says ballots received up to five days after an election can be counted as long as they were in the mail by the date of the election.

The state election law, as RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel noted in a statement to Townhall, contradicts "very clear" federal election law.

"Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November," McDaniel noted of the federal statute establishing election dates for federal office holders. "However, some states accept and count ballots days and days after Election Day, and we believe that practice is wrong."

"We are filing this lawsuit because counting ballots that are received well after polls have closed could undermine voter confidence in elections," added McDaniel.

The lawsuit challenging Mississippi's post-Election Day vote counting is just one of the 77 active election integrity lawsuits filed by the RNC in 23 states across the country. The legal efforts undertaken by the RNC under McDaniel's tenure are also part of her launching the nationwide Trump-backed "Bank Your Vote" campaign to beat Democrats at their early and absentee voting game.

Aside from the "Bank Your Vote" campaign, more secure elections with fewer opportunities for fraud or loopholes to be exploited are always a good thing. As was seen in the wake of election security laws passed by Georgia and other states, participation and turnout increased and voters reported fewer issues casting their ballots.