(Photo by Joe Kovacs)

Election Day in America for generations as meant Election Day: That single day, for presidential elections in November, when voter cast ballots and those ballots are counted.

A winner is announced then.

But in recent years legislators and others have expanded that window: It’s now often election weeks or even more, as they’ve agreed that ballots that come in late still should be counted.

That’s faced opposition from Republicans for multiple elections, and now the U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed it will weigh in.

YES! Supreme Court will take up our case! https://t.co/Z9a7fsXRhV https://t.co/axbp7cO6sC

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) June 2, 2025

A report at the Washington Examiner notes this case is about a state law in Illinois that lets ballots be counted even if they are two weeks late.

The court has granted a petition by Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and two Republican elector nominees.

The state law they want to have blocked has election officials counting ballots that arrive up to 14 days after Election Day, if they are postmarked by the deadline.

Lower courts claimed that the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue, meaning they weren’t injured so could make no claim.

But the high court accepted the case with the question about whether Bost and the others, as federal candidates, have a right to challenge the “time, place, and manner” regulations for elections in Illinois.

Government watchdog Judicial Watch asked for the review.

“In the aftermath of the 2020 elections, however, for a variety of reasons, courts have limited candidates’ ability to challenge the electoral rules governing their campaigns. This case presents the latest — and an extreme — example of this trend,” according to the petition submitted to the high court.

State election officials in Illinois said the case should be thrown out.

The case didn’t ask the high court specifically about counting the ballots, but it would provide a path for exactly that question to arise.

The report cited how states all across the nation have “loosened” their ballot laws.

Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is currently a news editor for the WND News Center, and also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.