Ahead of next year’s critical midterms, the Supreme Court has agreed to take on a key election case.

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From SCOTUSblog:

Setting the stage for a major ruling on election law, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether federal law requires ballots to be not only cast by voters but also received by election officials by Election Day. As part of the list of orders from the justices’ private conference on Friday, the court took up Watson v. Republican National Committee, a challenge by the Republican National Committee and others to a Mississippi law (as well as similar laws in 30 other states and the District of Columbia) that allow mail-in ballots to be counted as long as they are received within five business days after Election Day.

The dispute began in 2024, when the RNC – along with the Mississippi Republican Party and two individuals – went to federal court to challenge the Mississippi law. Their case was later joined with a similar case brought by the Libertarian Party of Mississippi.

While a judge in Mississippi ruled in favor of the state’s law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed the ruling. The appeals court wrote that federal election law dictates all ballots must received no later than Election Day.

Mississippi appealed to the Supreme Court in June, seeking clarity on the issue ahead of next year’s midterms. The state summarized the importance of the case, stating, “[t]he stakes are high: ballots cast by—but received after—election day can swing close races and change the course of the country.”

In response to the state’s appeal, the Republican National Committee called on the Supreme Court to leave the 5th Circuit’s ruling in place. It said that “chaos and suspicions of impropriety … can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results of an election, adding that allowing ballots that arrive after Election Day to be counted could impede resolving any potential post-election disputes.”

So what comes next? According to SCOTUSblog, the high court “will likely hear oral arguments sometime next year, with a decision to follow by late June or early July.” For now, lets pray for wisdom for each justice, and let’s pray they would protect our elections.

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(Excerpt from SCOTUSblog. Photo Credit: Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash)