Supreme Court Rules Mailed Ballots Postmarked by Election Day Must Be Counted, a Win for Native Voters

NATIVE VOTE 2026.

A Supreme Court decision issued today protects Native American voters who cast their ballots by mail.

In Watson v. Republican National Committee, the Court ruled in a 6-3 decision to uphold voters’ rights by allowing ballots cast on time to be counted after Election Day, as permitted under state law. The ruling protects Native voters across Indian Country who face a litany of barriers to casting their ballots and depend on absentee voting.

The majority opinion was written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who argued that the word “election” in federal statutes has always meant the act of selecting a candidate, not the receipt of ballots. Plaintiffs argued that the 19th-century practice of same-day ballot receipt was constitutionally mandated, but the Court countered that practice does not make law.

More than half of the states already count absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day but received afterward.

Native people living on a reservation face disproportionate barriers to voting, including polling places located long distances away, a lack of transportation, and absentee ballots arriving late.

In 2024, preliminary turnout in majority-Native counties dropped from 53.3% in 2020 to 48.8%, a decline of nearly 10,000 votes.

Jaynie Parrish (Diné) is the executive director and co-founder of Arizona Native Vote, a Phoenix-based nonprofit aimed at increasing civic engagement in Arizona’s tribal communities. Parrish emphasized that the state’s remote tribal nations rely on absentee ballots.

“The SCOTUS ruling upholding state laws allowing late-arriving mail-in ballots is critical,” Parrish told Native News Online. “We haven’t received much hopeful news from the Supreme Court lately, but this is a good one. A large percentage of voters on Navajo, Hopi, and White Mountain Apache vote by mail.”

“The way our community organizing team sees this decision: One less barrier to worry about for now. Second, we still have to pay attention because there will continue to be attacks on voting, especially mail-in voting, so our folks must be prepared and vote early.”

Judith LeBlanc (Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma), executive director of Native Organizers Alliance, agrees.

“The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day is a big win for Native, Black, rural, and all communities whose voting rights have been under constant attack,” LeBlanc said. “Now we must continue to organize to ensure Native voters have the necessary access to polls for the 2026 midterm elections.”

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and Torey K. Dolan of the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the National Congress of American Indians, Alaska Federation of Natives, and Washington Conservation Action Education Fund in support of the petitioner in the case. The brief explained that Native communities often lack reliable mail delivery, have fewer postal services, and endure longer mail transit times, especially in Alaska Native communities.

Native American Rights Fund Senior Staff Attorney Jacqueline De León said communities with fewer resources should not lose their right to vote.

“Today’s decision provides some protection to Native American voters, who should not lose their right to have their vote counted because their communities have less in-person voting opportunities and their mail takes longer to process and deliver than other communities,” De León said. “Ballots cast by election deadlines should not be discarded simply because substandard service or weather delays cause them to arrive after Election Day. Today’s ruling defends long-standing protections for Native voters and all Americans who depend on absentee voting.”

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