{"id":2583046,"date":"2026-03-23T18:30:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T22:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/samuel-alito-concerned-late-arriving-ballot-laws-could-undermine-election-trust\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T18:32:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T22:32:01","slug":"samuel-alito-concerned-late-arriving-ballot-laws-could-undermine-election-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/samuel-alito-concerned-late-arriving-ballot-laws-could-undermine-election-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuel Alito concerned late-arriving ballot laws could undermine election trust"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsamuel-alito-concerned-late-arriving-ballot-laws-could-undermine-election-trust%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2583046&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece reports on the Supreme court\u2019s hearing in Watson v. Republican National Committee over mississippi\u2019s law allowing ballots postmarked by election Day to be received up to five days later. Justice Samuel Alito warned that accepting late ballots could undermine public confidence in elections and questioned concerns about fraud and the appearance of fraud. Mississippi\u2019s solicitor general argued there is no demonstrated fraud from late-arriving ballots, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh pressed on how to weigh concerns about confidence in the electoral process. Across the arguments, a majority of justices appeared skeptical of the Mississippi law\u2019s legality and its broader implications, with a ruling anticipated by the end of June ahead of the midterm elections. The report also <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >notes polling suggesting significant public support<\/a> for strict Election Day deadlines and mentions other election-related cases the Court has heard this term.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Samuel Alito concerned late-arriving ballot laws could undermine confidence in elections<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2531593\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Justice <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/samuel-alito\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1232\">Samuel Alito<\/a> expressed concern over how the rise of state laws allowing mail ballots to be received after <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elections\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"452\">Election Day<\/a> could undermine public confidence in the electoral process, as the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"203\">Supreme Court<\/a> grappled with the legality of Mississippi&rsquo;s late-arriving mail ballot law Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4500536\/supreme-court-counting-late-mail-ballots-undermine-concept-election-day\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4500536\/supreme-court-counting-late-mail-ballots-undermine-concept-election-day\/\">heard arguments<\/a> in <em>Watson v. Republican National Committee<\/em>, weighing whether federal law setting Election Day preempts Mississippi&rsquo;s state law allowing ballots to be received up to five days after Election Day if they were postmarked by Election Day. One of the points opponents of Mississippi&rsquo;s law, and similar laws in 13 other states, have made is how counting ballots that roll in after Election Day undermines public confidence in elections.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4500536\/supreme-court-counting-late-mail-ballots-undermine-concept-election-day\/\">Supreme Court worried that counting late mail ballots could undermine concept of &#8216;Election Day&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4500051\/rnc-court-battles-election-integrity-voter-id\/\">RNC bets on courts to enact voter integrity measures as SAVE America Act stalls<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4495764\/supreme-court-debate-election-day-mail-ballots-case\/\">Supreme Court will debate meaning of &#8216;Election Day&#8217; in late mail ballots case<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Alito was the first justice to raise concerns about fraud, asking if the justices could fairly consider Congress&rsquo; intention to combat fraud, or the appearance of fraud, in elections when making their decision in this case. He also noted various briefs supporting the RNC&rsquo;s stance that all ballots must be received by Election Day, pointing to the RNC&rsquo;s concerns about confidence in elections.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Some of the briefs have argued that confidence in election outcomes can be seriously undermined if the apparent outcome of the election on the day after the polls close is radically flipped by the acceptance later of a big stash of ballots that flip the election,&rdquo; Alito said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got ballots that are delivered by somebody, by a neighbor, and they&rsquo;re received a month after the election and they don&rsquo;t have postmarks.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart pushed back on the argument that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nevada-allowed-to-continue-counting-late-arriving-ballots-judge-rules-2\/\" title=\"Nevada allowed to continue counting ..., judge rules\">late-arriving mail ballots<\/a> undermine public confidence, noting that his opponents had not &ldquo;cited a single example of fraud from post-Election Day ballot receipt in this century.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Justice Brett Kavanaugh also raised concerns over confidence in elections, asking Stewart whether the appearance of fraud should be factored into the high court&rsquo;s decision in the case.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Is that something we should be thinking about? Confidence in the election process? Just curious how we factor that in here,&rdquo; Kavanaugh asked Stewart, to which the Mississippi solicitor general responded that concerns Congress had about fraud were related to double voting when it established a singular Election Day nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Several groups filed briefs mentioning concerns over public confidence being shaken by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-will-consider-walking-back-campaign-spending-limits-even-further\/\" title=\"Supreme ... will consider walking back campaign spending limits even further\">late-arriving mail ballot laws<\/a>, including a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/24\/24-1260\/396356\/20260217101242321_Amicus%20Brief%20Merits.pdf\">brief<\/a> from Honest Elections Project and other similar groups. Polling from the group <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/honestelections.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Watson-v-RNC-Polling-Memo.pdf\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/honestelections.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Watson-v-RNC-Polling-Memo.pdf\">released<\/a> last week showed 78% of likely voters, including 90% of Republicans and 68% of Democrats, believe requiring ballots to be received by the end of Election Day makes elections more secure.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4500536\/supreme-court-counting-late-mail-ballots-undermine-concept-election-day\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"4500536\">SUPREME COURT WORRIED THAT COUNTING LATE MAIL BALLOTS COULD UNDERMINE CONCEPT OF &lsquo;ELECTION DAY&rsquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During oral arguments, a majority of the justices appeared deeply skeptical of the Mississippi law&rsquo;s legality and possible implications beyond late-arriving mail ballots.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court is expected to rule in the pivotal election case by the end of June, months ahead of the&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\">midterm elections<\/a>&nbsp;in November. During the current term, the justices have heard several election-related cases, including on&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4418260\/supreme-court-opens-floodgates-candidates-challenging-election-laws\/\">candidates&rsquo; ability to sue<\/a>&nbsp;over election laws,&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3909203\/supreme-court-consider-walking-back-campaign-spending-limits-further\/\">campaign finance laws<\/a>, and&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3851141\/brett-kavanaugh-questions-endpoint-race-based-redistricting-voting-rights-act\/\">race-based congressional redistricting<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paraphrase:<br \/>\nJustice Samuel Alito warned that state laws permitting ballots to arrive after Election Day could weaken public trust in elections, as the Supreme Court weighed Mississippi\u2019s late-arriving-mail-ballot law in Watson v. RNC. The case questions whether federal law preempts Mississippi\u2019s rule allowing postmarked ballots to be received up to five days later. Opponents of such laws-along with Mississippi and 13 other states-argue that counting late ballots can erode confidence in the electoral process.<\/p>\n<p>55-character option:<br \/>\nAlito cautions late ballots could erode election trust<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2583047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP25263594627210-2.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[59297,76408,73522,76407,70735],"class_list":["post-2583046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-election-integrity-2","tag-election-laws-2","tag-late-arriving-ballots-2","tag-samuel-alito-2","tag-supreme-court-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP25263594627210-2.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583046"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2583050,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583046\/revisions\/2583050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2583047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}