Supreme Court to consider deadlines for late-arriving mail ballots, as Trump continues attacks

Washington — As voters gear up for the midterm elections in November that will decide control of the House and Senate, the Supreme Court is set to weigh Monday whether states can count mail ballots that are postmarked by, but arrive after, Election Day.

Washington — As voters gear up for the midterm elections in November that will decide control of the House and Senate, the Supreme Court is set to weigh Monday whether states can count mail ballots that are postmarked by, but arrive after, Election Day.

The dispute before the high court, known as Watson v. RNC, involves Mississippi's deadline for late-arriving mail ballots and whether its law — and similar measures in 13 other states — conflicts with federal statutes that set Election Day as the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

President Trump has continued to target voting by mail, which he claims is "corrupt as hell" and wants to sharply curtail. Since returning to the White House, the president and his administration have tried to gain more control of federal elections. He signed an executive order last March that sought to overhaul U.S. elections, though provisions have been blocked by a federal judge.

All 50 states require ballots to be marked and submitted by Election Day. But 14 states and the District of Columbia have enacted so-called grace periods, in which ballots that are postmarked by Election Day can be counted if they are received by election officials after the specified day. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia accept at least some military and overseas ballots that are received after Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Four states — Kansas, North Dakota, Ohio and Utah — passed laws last year eliminating grace periods. They now require mail ballots to be received by Election Day in order to be counted.