The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that federal candidates can challenge state laws that allow mail-in ballots to be counted past Election Day.
In a 7-2 ruling, the justices sided with a Republican congressman who challenged Illinois’ requirement that mail-in ballots can be counted up to two weeks after Election Day if they had been postmarked before the deadline.
Lower courts had ruled against Rep. Michael Bost, reasoning that he lacked standing — or sufficient legal injury — to sue. He had also been joined by two presidential electors trying to challenge the state law.
But the justices, in an opinion written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said an “unlawful election rule” can harm a candidate for office, posing legal injuries.
“Under Article III of the Constitution, plaintiffs must have a ’personal stake’ in a case to have standing to sue,” wrote the chief justice, a George W. Bush appointee. “Congressman Bost has an obvious answer: He is a candidate for office. And a candidate has a personal stake in the rules that govern the counting of votes in his election.”
The high court’s other GOP appointees joined the majority opinion, along with Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee.
But Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a dissent arguing that Mr. Bost has a potential injury, not an actual one — saying precedent requires individuals to suffer actual harm to be able to bring a lawsuit.
“Congressman Bost has failed to allege that the election-related law he seeks to challenge has caused him to suffer any injury that satisfies those requirements,” wrote Justice Jackson, a Biden appointee.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee, signed on to Justice Jackson’s dissent.
Republican- and Democrat-led states have pushed significant changes in voting rules in recent years, spurring a flood of lawsuits in federal courts.
Wednesday’s ruling in Boston v. Illinois State Board of Elections means candidates will be able to mount legal challenges to those changes more easily.
