In a mild surprise that instantly produced a not-so-mild reaction from President Trump, a 5-4 Supreme Court majority rejected an administration and Republican Party effort to prevent states from counting mail ballots postmarked by Election Day but received later. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority in deciding the case, Watson v. RNC; she was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the Court’s three liberals. Team Trump argued that congressional statutes establishing a uniform Election Day in federal elections take precedence over the laws of 14 states that currently allow post–Election Day ballot receipt. Barrett very simply held that “Election Day,” for purposes of federal law, means the act of casting votes, not the receipt, counting, or certification of votes, which remains entirely up to the states:

The Framers recognized the difficulty of crafting election laws “applicable to every probable change in the situation of the country” … So instead of constitutionalizing election law, they decided that “a discretionary power over elections” needed to be lodged “somewhere.”Suffice it to say, that power was not lodged in this Court. The election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose. 

The Framers recognized the difficulty of crafting election laws “applicable to every probable change in the situation of the country” … So instead of constitutionalizing election law, they decided that “a discretionary power over elections” needed to be lodged “somewhere.”

Suffice it to say, that power was not lodged in this Court. The election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose. 

In a dissent joined by Justices Clarence Thomas,........

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