How late can mail-in ballots be counted in Washington, other states? 16%
By Teo Popescu0%
6/29/2026, 11:21:24 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Unattributed Quote, and Quote-first Misdirection, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 12.1% saturation with 45 hits. Analysis detected 542 faulty-reasoning hits from 371 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 31.7% and a BS Rank of 16% (18,507 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 84.60% of the article peer group.
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S.
Supreme Court has upheld grace periods for mail-in ballots, allowing late-arriving ballots to be counted if postmarked on or before Election Day.
That means there will be no changes to Washington state’s current mail-in ballot system — for now.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a Mississippi law that allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if received within five days of an election.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the opinion for the majority, stating that Mississippi’s “ statutes do not set a deadline for ballot receipt, so they do not prevent Mississippi from counting ballots postmarked before Election Day yet received afterward."
The high court’s decision comes after a lower court last week blocked parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order to restrict voting by mail.
That executive order calls for the U.S.
Postal Service to have new authority to determine who can receive mail-in ballots.
In a statement, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown called Monday’s Supreme Court decision “a major win for voters and a firm rebuke of Donald Trump’s strategy to take control of states’ voting systems.”
Washington is one of 14 states — along with Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia — that allow some form of late-arriving mail-in ballots.
In the 2024 presidential election, that added up to at least 725,000 late-arriving ballots, according to a review of voting records by The New York Times.
Some states also have grace periods for ballots returning from overseas, such as those cast by military members.
The Supreme Court’s ruling puts attention back on Congress, where legislation like the SAVE America Act, an election overhaul that's stalled in the Senate, could still change voting laws.
Each state maintains its own regulations around grace periods for mail-in ballots.
View the rules in your state below.
Hover over a state for more information about grace periods.
Source
National Conference of State Legislatures, 2026
Credits
Story: Teo Popescu
Design: Teo Popescu
Editor: Liz Brazile
Product Manager: Lisa Wang
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