In a setback for President Trump, the Supreme Court ruled that states can count mail-in ballots received up to five days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked on or before the day of voting.
“The decision applies to state and federal laws that permit the counting of mailed ballots that arrive late from voters who are inside the United States as well as to those who are serving in the military or are overseas,” said Mark Sherman, with the Associated Press.
Writing for the majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said voting by mail is consistent with the Constitution.
“I think it was very detrimental to honest elections, but it is what it is,” Trump said in the Oval Office following the court’s Tuesday ruling.
The case grew out of a challenge by the Republican National Committee, which argued all ballots must be received by the close of polls on Election Day.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing in dissent, said counting ballots after Election Day could create confusion.
“Some of the briefs have argued that confidence in election outcomes can be seriously undermined if the apparent outcome the day after the polls closed is flipped the day after the election,” Alito said.
The court also handed President Trump a victory, expanding presidential authority over independent regulatory agencies.
In a 6-to-3 ruling, the justices said the president can remove, without cause, officials at the Federal Trade Commission and more than two dozen other independent agencies.
“It gives a president the right to do what the president should have the right to do,” the president argued.
But the court stopped short of extending that authority to the Federal Reserve.
In a separate 5-to-4 ruling, the justices allowed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to remain in office.
“No president has fired a Federal Reserve Governor in the agency’s 113-year history,” said Sherman.
In a separate personal legal matter, the Supreme Court declined to hear President Trump’s appeal of the $5 million verdict in the E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse and defamation case.
