What Comes After Watson

The countdown to the 2026 midterms has already begun — but for hundreds of thousands of Americans, the fundamental rules of how to return a mail ballot hang in the balance before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the case Watson v. RNC, the Republican National Committee is challenging a Mississippi law that allows ballots received a few days after Election Day to be counted — as long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day. Mississippi is one of 30 states with grace periods allowing at least some voters’ mail ballots to be counted if they are sent by Election Day but received afterward. Specifically: Fourteen states and Washington, D.C., currently have postmark deadlines with grace periods for all mail ballots. In these states, many voters — especially rural voters, voters without access to drop boxes or early voting sites, and voters who experience unexpected mail-delivery delays — often rely on grace periods to ensure their ballots are counted. Sixteen additional states provide a grace period specifically for military and overseas voters. This report from the Voting Rights Lab lays out state-specific policy prescriptions for the 14 states with grace periods for all mail ballots: Alaska, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia, along with Washington, D.C.

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