Supreme Court worried that counting late mail ballots could undermine concept of ‘Election Day’

The Supreme Court appeared uneasy on Monday with the implications of Mississippi’s late-arriving mail ballot law — and how defining “Election Day” by when voters make their decisions, rather than by when the state receives their ballots, could create a mess of other issues.

The high court heard arguments in Watson v. Republican National Committee, in which the justices will decide if federal law setting Election Day should preempt a Mississippi law that allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received up to five days afterward. The RNC has argued that federal law bars the state law, because Election Day serves as the deadline for officials to receive ballots, while Mississippi officials argue instead that Election Day is the deadline for voters to cast their ballots.

Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart was grilled by several justices early into Monday morning’s oral arguments over the implications of the state’s argument