Mississippi
Court appears ready to overturn state law allowing for late-arriving mail-in ballots
The Supreme Court on Monday appeared ready to overturn a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted as long as they are postmarked by, and then received within five business days of, Election Day. After just over two hours of oral argument in Watson v. Republican National Committee, a majority of justices seemed to agree with the challengers – which included the Republican Party of Mississippi and the Libertarian Party of Mississippi – that the Mississippi law conflicts with federal laws that set the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the “election day.”
Because more than a dozen states have similar laws, the court’s ruling – which is expected by late June or early July – could have significant implications for federal elections, beginning as soon as November.
Mississippi passed the law at the center of the case in 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four years later, the Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party, a Mississippi voter, and a county election official went to court to challenge the law, as did the Libertarian Party of Mississippi in a separate lawsuit (which was later combined with the Republicans’ lawsuit). They argued that Mississippi’s law clashed with a federal law, enacted by Congress in 1845, that establishes the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as “election day.” In 1872, Congress directed that congressional elections should occur on this day, as well.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit agreed with the challengers that federal law requires all ballots to be received by Election Day. After the full court of appeals – over a dissent by five judges – rejected the state’s petition to rehear the case, the state went to the Supreme Court, which agreed in November to weigh in.
At Monday’s oral argument, Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart told the justices that states have broad power over elections. Laws like Mississippi’s, he argued, are consistent with federal election laws because voters make their final choices by Election Day.
Paul Clement, representing the challengers, countered that when Congress initially passed the law establishing the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as “Election Day,” the casting of ballots and the state’s receipt of ballots were “so inextricably intertwined” that “no one would have thought of one without the other” – supporting his argument that a ballot is final (and the election therefore occurs) when it is received by election officials.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued on behalf of the Trump administration, which filed a “friend of the court” brief supporting the challengers. Sauer told the court that “Mississippi’s theory of election is so general and permissive that it would authorize statutes that Congress could not possibly have approved in the 19th century.”
Several justices focused on the history of election practices and what it might mean for Congress’ understanding of “Election Day” when it enacted the laws at the center of this case. Clement emphasized the “unbroken historical tradition” for much of the 19th century and early 20th century of requiring ballots to be received (normally through in-person voting) on Election Day.
But the lawyers and justices sparred over the significance of departures from that tradition during the Civil War, when some Union states allowed soldiers to vote from the battlefields. Clement insisted that proxy voting was the most analogous to today’s absentee ballots. Five states, he said, still required ballots to be submitted and received in a soldier’s home state by Election Day. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the justices who was most sympathetic to Mississippi, responded that two states had allowed officers to collect and mail-in ballots for soldiers.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who appeared considerably less sympathetic to Mississippi, expressed concern that voters could recall or revoke their votes before they were actually counted, so that their final choices would not occur before Election Day. Gorsuch asked Stewart to address a hypothetical scenario in which, after Election Day but before a winner is declared, a candidate is revealed to have been colluding with a foreign power. As a result, Gorsuch posited, some absentee voters could recall their mail-in ballots and switch their votes, changing the outcome of the election.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pushed back, emphasizing that in her view the case was not about either ballot recalls or what the history of election practices might have been. Instead, she stressed, the dispute before the justices was over who decides the date by which ballots must be received, and, in particular, whether Congress has prohibited the states from making those decisions. “We’re trying … to figure out,” she said, “what Congress meant when it included Election Day in its federal statutes.”
Justice Samuel Alito suggested that in defending the law, Mississippi faced “a variety of line-drawing problems” – the idea that the state’s position, if taken to its logical conclusion, could lead to extreme and (at least in Alito’s view) undesirable outcomes. For example, he asked Stewart, how long after Election Day can states count ballots?
Stewart’s answer – that states get to make the initial decision, but Congress can always step in to impose limits – proved unsatisfying to Alito.
But Jackson once again pushed back, telling Alito that line-drawing problems “are only problems to the extent that Congress thought they were problems.” The question before the court, she noted, is whether Congress intended to “cabin” the states’ decisions regarding Election Day. And indeed, she said, several federal laws – such as those governing voting for military and overseas voters – indicate that Congress intended to incorporate state laws establishing post-election ballot-receipt deadlines into federal law.
Jackson later noted that Congress is currently considering a bill that would prohibit states from counting ballots received after Election Day. The fact that it believes such legislation is necessary, she posited, indicates that Congress believes that federal law currently permits laws like Mississippi’s.
Justice Elena Kagan echoed Jackson’s thinking. She observed that a 2022 law intended to clarify the process for casting and counting of presidential electors, the Electoral Count Reform Act, specifically refers to “the period of voting.” The use of that phrase, she told Clement, implied that Congress is “fine” with states having a “period” for voting, rather than a single day.
Clement answered that the phrase “period of voting” was intended to refer to early voting. But that answer seemed to create some difficulty for the challengers, as various justices pressed both Sauer and Clement about why, under their position, the statute would allow early voting (which was also not used in early U.S. history) but preclude ballots received after Election Day.
Clement told the court that early voting does not “vitiate the whole idea of an Election Day” in the same way that counting ballots received after Election Day does. And in particular, he emphasized, it does not raise the same concerns about fraud – which were at the core of Congress’ motives in passing the law at the center of the case in the first place.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh had a practical question for Clement. If the court were to rule for the challengers in a decision issued in June, Kavanaugh queried, would it be too late to implement that decision for the 2026 elections?
Clement responded that it would not be. Under federal law, he noted, absentee ballots must go out to military and overseas voters 45 days before the general election in November – which would mean that states would have to mail them in mid-September.
As Kavanaugh’s question suggests, a decision in the case is expected by late June or early July.
Cases: Watson v. Republican National Committee (Election Law)
Recommended Citation:
Amy Howe,
Court appears ready to overturn state law allowing for late-arriving mail-in ballots,
SCOTUSblog (Mar. 23, 2026, 3:41 PM),
https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/03/court-appears-ready-to-overturn-state-law-allowing-for-late-arriving-mail-in-ballots/
GPS data from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, obtained by CBS News, tracks the movements of the boat that carried Nolan Wells to Horn Island on July 4. Wells was found dead after going missing following an outing on the island.
The vessel left a dock at approximately 9:56 a.m. that morning and arrived at Horn Island at 11:14 a.m. CBS News has previously reported that Wells was not on the boat when it departed the island.
According to the GPS data, the boat left Horn Island at 4:31 p.m. and returned to its original departure dock. It then traveled into Fort Bayou around 5:52 p.m. before returning to the dock at 6:06 p.m.
Later that evening, the boat went to the Fort Bayou boat launch at 7:19 p.m., according to the MSDMR report. From there, it traveled over land — presumably towed by a vehicle — to the Biloxi, Mississippi, residence of the boat’s owners.
The MSDMR report indicates that the boat’s owner, his mother and one other individual who was reportedly with Wells on the day of the incident have cooperated with the investigation.
The department’s report ends on July 5, following notification that the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office would take over as the lead investigative agency.
Wells, 18, was last seen on July 4 on Horn Island, where he had taken a boat trip with friends to celebrate the holiday, officials said. Wells traveled to the island with his friends but did not return to the mainland with them that afternoon, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter has said.
He was last seen on the island at 3 p.m., according to attorney Ben Crump’s office. His mother reported him missing later that night and a search began.
His body was discovered July 6 off the coast of the island, which is about 10 miles south of the Mississippi mainland, following a search that involved the U.S. Coast Guard, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the National Park Service.
Dental records confirmed the body was Wells, Jackson County coroner Bruce Lynd told CBS News. An autopsy took place on July 7, Lynd said, but the results were not immediately made public. Wells’ body was flown to Washington, D.C., for an independent autopsy, according to Crump.
Wells’ parents have said they don’t believe their son would’ve stayed behind on the island by choice when his friends left by boat.
“No, he wouldn’t. Nolan always stays with the group,” Elmore Wonsley, Nolan’s father, told “CBS Mornings” last week. “If you be with me, you come back with me. So that I don’t understand, and with me being a parent, if I was in that situation, I would have told them, ‘You’re going to get back on this boat with me because I don’t want to answer to your parents if something happens to you.’”
When directly asked if he believed Nolan was left behind on the island, his father responded, “Yes. I don’t believe he decided to stay on the island by himself. It just doesn’t — that’s not his character.”
Wells went to Ocean Springs High School and was a rising sophomore on Southwest Mississippi Community College’s football team. Crump said Wells was a good swimmer.
Permanent daylight saving time in New Jersey
House approves permanent DST: NJ gets later sunsets year-round but darker winter mornings; sunrise could be ~8:25 a.m.
Are Americans finally done changing the clocks twice a year? Congress moved a step closer to ending the ritual after the U.S. House passed legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent.
It hasn’t been approved by the Senate yet, but it did pass the House with broad support (308-117). If it passes the Senate, it could be signed by President Donald Trump or become law without his signature, unless he vetoes it.
Trump has previously backed ending twice-a-year time changes.
“I am going to work very hard to see The Sunshine Protection Act signed into Law. It’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’” he wrote in a May Truth Social post.
A few versions of the Sunshine Protection Act were introduced in Congress. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Florida, introduced the one that’s gaining ground last year.
Here’s what to know about daylight saving time and the move to change it.
What is daylight saving time and why do we use it?
Daylight saving time is the practice of setting clocks forward an hour from March until November in an effort to gain more sunlight during the summer months.
According to the Library of Congress, it was first enacted in 1918 as a fuel cost-saving measure during World War I.
Daylight saving time became federal law under the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Under the law, some states can opt to exempt themselves from daylight saving time.
Would Mississippi keep daylight saving time year-round?
In 2021, the Mississippi Legislature passed a law saying the state plans to stick with daylight saving time year-round. But that only takes effect if Congress changes the federal law to let states adopt it all the time. A bill updating the effective date died in committee in the 2026 session.
Nineteen states, including Mississippi, are ready to make daylight saving time permanent if Congress changes the law to make the twice-a-year time shift optional, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
How later sunrises would affect Mississippi
Sunrise and sunset times in summer would look the same.
But the period from November to March would be different. The amount of daylight would be the same, just shifted an hour later than usual.
Mississippi could expect the latest winter sunrises around 7:59 a.m. in mid-January. The earliest sunsets would shift from about 4:46 p.m. in early December to 5:46 p.m., according to timeanddate.com.
Why permanent daylight saving time failed before
Yes. Congress did drop Daylight Saving Time before.
The move failed in 1974 after parents worried about kids going to school before dawn, risking more vehicle crashes.
Some parts of the country, like Michigan or Indiana, don’t see sunrise until after 9 a.m. with the permanent daylight saving time.
When clocks fall back in 2026
Clocks will “fall back” from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, unless Congress changes the law.
Daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday in November each year, under current law. That’s when we get back that missing hour of sleep from the spring time change.
Does Mississippi change clocks twice a year?
Yes. Mississippi, which is in the Central time zone, observes daylight saving time.
What time is it in Mississippi?
Visit timeanddate.com to see the current time in Jackson.
Which states don’t observe daylight saving time?
Most of the U.S. participates in daylight saving time except for Hawaii and most of Arizona. The Navajo Nation in the northeast corner of the state does participate.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@usatodayco.com.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.
Mississippi
Mississippi teen accused of killing elderly couple had worked for them before shooting: family
A teenager in Mississippi knew the elderly couple he’s accused of killing before sparking a standoff with law enforcement, according to new testimony in court.
Cordarius Hobbs, 17, is charged with killing 74-year-old Billy Blair and his 71-year-old wife Virginia Carol Blair during a home break-in on June 3 in Mendenhall, Mississippi.
Family members of Hobbs testified during the Thursday preliminary hearing that he knew the couple.
Family members testified that Hobbs did work for the Blairs for things like cleaning around the house before the alleged shooting, according to WAPT.
Billy Newsome, Hobbs’ grandfather, said he believes his grandson was called to work on the day of the alleged shooting but believes he’s innocent.
“My grandson used to work for the man, why you gone rob a man that you work for,” Newsome said. “Why you gone stay there that long and you know the police out there, and then you gone wait until everybody gets there to run, it just ain’t adding up, something just ain’t right here.”
On June 3, three contractors installing a generator at the Blairs’ home discovered Carol Blair’s car door open with several guns on the seats around 10 a.m., prompting them to call the Simpson County Sheriff’s Department for a welfare check at 11:30 a.m, according to a Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigator.
By noon, the investigator said that officers arrived and were met with shots fired at them, starting a nearly two-hour-long standoff.
Hobbs was captured after trying to run away from officers, the official said, adding that the teen was unarmed when he was caught.
Carol Blair was found in a bedroom curled in the fetal position and had three gunshots to the back of her head. Bill Blair was found lying on his back in the kitchen with three gunshot wounds to his face.
The state investigator said three firearms were found inside the home as well as 280 shell casings, all owned by Bill Blair.
Hobbs’ defense attorney, Zachary Vaugh, argued that there’s a lack of direct forensic evidence connecting the teenager to the shooting.
“There was nothing to say he’s a principal, he’s the one that pulled the trigger on these things,” Vaugh said. “One of the things alone was, one of the victims was shot twice on one side of the head and once on the other. I think that’s pretty compelling that somebody else may have been in there. There’s a lot of things that are possible, just a tremendous amount of things.”
“When you have an officer say there’s no one that can identify him at the time of the shooting, I just don’t see how that adds up,” he said.
Hobbs is charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of burglary, in addition to 10 other charges. He was denied bond.
In a statement on Facebook, the couple’s family previously said, “We are crushed in spirit, bruised, and brokenhearted, but we are not alone.”
Jason Busby, who was friends with the couple, remembered them as being extremely selfless when speaking with WLBT.
“The man would’ve given you the shirt off his back, his wife is the same, and they’re just great people. It’s just a tragedy,” Busby said. “Everybody around here is still in shock. They were just good people.”
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