{"id":2654487,"date":"2026-09-04T08:18:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigngop-bill-aims-to-bring-back-common-sense-to-election-day-and-mail-in-ballots\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T08:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:23:07","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigngop-bill-aims-to-bring-back-common-sense-to-election-day-and-mail-in-ballots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigngop-bill-aims-to-bring-back-common-sense-to-election-day-and-mail-in-ballots\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Aims To Require Mail-In Ballots Arrive By Election Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><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%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigngop-bill-aims-to-bring-back-common-sense-to-election-day-and-mail-in-ballots%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=2654487&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>rep. Laurel Lee, a Republican from Florida, has introduced the Ballots by Election Day Act to require that all ballots in federal elections be received by the close of polls on Election Day, ending the practice of counting mail-in ballots received days or weeks later. Lee argues this would restore confidence by providing clear deadlines and certainty in election results, similar to florida\u2019s prosperous model where 85% of ballots were counted within 45 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>California exemplifies the chaos caused by extended deadlines, with mail-in ballots arriving after Election day in recent elections, leading to prolonged vote counts and suspicions of manipulation. Currently, 14 states and D.C. accept ballots postmarked by Election Day with varying grace periods, which critics say increases the risk of fraud and undermines integrity. <\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutionality of counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day, in a 5-4 decision in Watson v. RNC. Justice Alito warned that allowing ballots to be counted days after poses greater opportunities for fraud and questions the legitimacy of the election results.<\/p>\n<p>Lee\u2019s bill aims to establish a firm deadline for ballot receipt, modeled after Florida\u2019s approach, which has demonstrated efficient vote counting. However, such reforms face resistance; Democrats oppose efforts like the SAVE America Act, which would impose stricter voting requirements nationwide. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Biden administration has challenged efforts to restrict mail-in voting, including rules to prevent noncitizens from voting via mail, arguing that these regulations are constitutionally sound and within the Postal Service\u2019s authority. the debate centers on balancing election security, voter access, and public confidence.  <\/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<div>\n<p>Florida\u2019s former top elections official has introduced a bill that aims to make Election Day Election Day again, a proposal that would put an end to the flood of mail-in ballots arriving days after the polls close.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Laurel Lee, a Republican who represents Florida\u2019s 15th Congressional District, asserts the <a href=\"https:\/\/laurellee.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/rep-laurel-lee-introduces-ballots-election-day-act-establish-clear-deadline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ballots by Election Day Act<\/a> will bring back a \u201ccommonsense standard to federal elections\u201d by requiring ballots be received by the close of polls on Election Day. If they\u2019re not, they won\u2019t be counted. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the polls close, voters should have confidence that the voting is over and election officials can move forward with determining the results,\u201d Lee said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/laurellee.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/rep-laurel-lee-introduces-ballots-election-day-act-establish-clear-deadline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press release<\/a>. \u201cThe Ballots by Election Day Act applies that commonsense standard to federal elections across the country and provides greater certainty for voters, election officials, and the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>California Chaos<\/h2>\n<p>Uncertainty \u2014 chaos, really \u2014 has reigned in states like California, which accepts ballots a week after Election Day, if postmarked by Election Day. The Golden State\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/04\/californias-latest-election-mess-demands-supreme-court-cleanup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">June primary<\/a> saw another long vote count, with election officials still tallying votes several days after the June 2 contests. As The Federalist\u2019s Hayden Daniel quipped at the time, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/anti-cartel-candidate-the-tiger-channels-trump-bukele-colombia-election-shocker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Colombia,<\/a> a mountainous country infested with drug lords and guerrillas, is counting its votes more efficiently than the state of California.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Mail-in ballots received after Election Day continued to pour in. Over time, the nationally-watched Los Angeles mayoral race saw radical leftist City Council member Nithya Raman grab the votes she needed to leapfrog the relative conservative in the race, reality television personality Spencer Pratt, to claim the second and final spot on November\u2019s general election ballot. <\/p>\n<p>In 2024, California\u2019s extended Election Day forced the country to wait more than a month to learn the majority-minority power balance in the U.S. House of Representatives. <\/p>\n<p>California\u2019s lax voting rules understandably have created suspicions of election manipulation, and have done nothing to lift flagging voter confidence. The Democratic Party stronghold sends mail-in ballots to all registered voters, and third parties are free to collect unlimited numbers of ballots. Such harvests have led to massive mail-in ballot dumps that can push a candidate to victory.<\/p>\n<p>California is not alone. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/national\/2026\/06\/29\/supreme-court-watson-rnc-mail-ballots-absentee-deadline-grace-period\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accept postmarked ballots <\/a>after Election Day, with varying grace periods. <\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Greater Opportunity for Fraud\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The Supreme Court this summer did no favors to election integrity when it issued its 5-4 ruling in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/cases\/watson-v-republican-national-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Watson v. RNC<\/em>,<\/a> a case challenging Mississippi\u2019s 5-day grace period for receiving mail ballots. Authored by (kind of) conservative Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett and backed by (kind of) conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and the court\u2019s three liberals, the majority opinion shrugged off arguments that the constitution lays out when Election Day is \u2014 and when ballots must be in to count. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose,\u201d Barrett <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-1260_g3cn.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Justice Samuel Alito penned the dissenting opinion, shared by justice Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAllowing absentee ballots to pour in over the days and weeks after election day, by which point preliminary election returns are being publicly reported, creates greater opportunity for fraud and risks further undermining the public\u2019s confidence in election integrity,\u201d Alito wrote. He added that \u201c[i]f ballots received after election day are added to the set of ballots that dictate the election\u2019s outcome, the electorate\u2019s choice does not occur on election day, and the federal election-day statutes are violated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Congress has the power to end the chaos. But will it? Probably not, at least anytime soon. <\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Election Day Should Mean Election Results\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Lee\u2019s Ballots by Election Day Act does what Barrett asserts the Constitution does not do. It establishes a clear deadline when ballots in federal elections must be received \u2014 by the close of the polls on Election Day. Ballots that arrive after would not be counted.  <\/p>\n<p>Lee, who previously served as Florida Secretary of State, said the bill is modeled after the Sunshine State\u2019s Election Day deadline. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlorida has shown that we can provide voters with accessible ways to cast their ballots while maintaining a clear deadline for when those ballots must be received,\u201d the two-term congresswoman from the Tampa-area district. \u201cElection Day should mean election results.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The comparison is stunning. As 77 WABC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/77WABC\/posts\/florida-counted-85-of-33-million-ballots-in-just-45-minutes-los-angeles-had-22-m\/1670651588401540\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported,<\/a> Florida counted about 85 percent of the 3.3 million ballots cast in last month\u2019s primary election in 45 minutes. In Los Angeles, elections officials didn\u2019t hit the 85 percent mark until six days after the city\u2019s June primary election. About 2.2 million ballots were case in the Los Angeles election. <\/p>\n<p>Florida Sen. Ashley Moody, a Republican, is leading a similar bill in the upper house. She called on Congress to \u201cbring Florida\u2019s blueprint for elections nationwide.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Much would have to change in order for the Florida blueprint to become law. Democrats have balked at every turn in passing the<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/20\/meet-election-attack-bombshell-with-the-save-act-or-there-wont-be-a-republic-left-to-save\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> SAVE America Act.<\/a> The popular election integrity package would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, and voter ID to cast a ballot. It also would significantly limit mail-in ballots. Senate Democrats have filibustered the bill, and Republican leadership isn\u2019t courageous enough to force Democrats to fight to keep the filibuster in place.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Plainly Constitutional\u2019 <\/h2>\n<p>On Thursday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to lift a lower court\u2019s temporary restraining order blocking the implementation of U.S. Postal Service rules for mail-in ballots. The rules are designed to keep noncitizens from voting in U.S. elections. Leftist groups and Democrat state attorneys general have sued to stop the attempt to vet mail ballots, rules drawn from President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order. <\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court earlier slapped down U.S. District Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mad.uscourts.gov\/boston\/talwani.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Judge Indira Talwani<\/a>\u2019s permanent injunction, finding the far-left Obama appointee prematurely moved to block the Trump administration. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Rule\u2019s regulation of the U.S. Mail\u2014not federal elections\u2014is plainly constitutional,\u201c the administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2026\/09\/03\/trump-administration-asks-supreme-court-allow-mail-in-ballot-restrictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote <\/a>in its filing. \u201dWhile the States have primary authority to regulate the manner of elections, they cannot choose to use the federal mails to carry out their elections but then insist that their election-related mail is somehow exempt from the Postal Service\u2019s rulemaking authority.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-knew-100-percent-he-was-fighting-for-the-little-guy-former-top-trump-economic-adviser\/\" title=\"Trump Knew \u2018100 Percent\u2019 He Was \u2018Fighting for the Little Guy\u2019: Former Top Trump Economic Adviser\">award-winning investigative reporter<\/a> and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida official proposes law to end late mail-in ballots<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2654488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-at-2.07.17-AM-1024x574.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[81756,39540,33663],"class_list":["post-2654487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-election-legislation","tag-mail-in-ballots","tag-voting-laws"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-at-2.07.17-AM-1024x574.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654487","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\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2654487"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2654491,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654487\/revisions\/2654491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2654488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2654487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2654487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2654487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}