Supreme Court agrees to hear absentee ballot appeal from Illinois congressman

The Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear an appeal from Illinois Rep. Mike Bost who wants to challenge the state’s decision to count absentee ballots after Election Day.

The Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear an appeal from Illinois Rep. Mike Bost who wants to challenge the state’s decision to count absentee ballots after Election Day. At issue is a lower court ruling that found the Republican and two presidential elector nominees did not have standing to sue. The Supreme Court will likely hear arguments in the case in the fall. Bost sued in 2022, claiming that an Illinois law allowing mail-in ballots to arrive up to two weeks after Election Day ran afoul federal law that sets a uniform day for federal elections. As in other states, the mail-in ballots at issue must be postmarked on or before the election. President Donald Trump has attacked the practice with an executive order that pressures states to abandon their post-election deadlines for mail-in ballots to arrive at election offices. His directives are subject to litigation as well. Roughly 20 other states and jurisdictions count ballots that arrive after Election Day. Republicans are pursuing litigation in multiple courts attempting to roll back the expansion of mail-in voting. A federal appeals court in Louisiana last year ruled that Mississippi was violating federal law by counting mail ballots that arrive after Election Day, but stopped short of blocking the policy before the November election.