Mississippi
US Supreme Court endorses grace periods for Mississippi mail-in ballots
Supreme Court allows late-arriving mail-in ballots
The Supreme Court is upholding Mississippi’s rule to count mail-in ballots received within five days after Election Day, halting Trump’s attack on voting by mail.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court backed on Monday state laws that allow mail-in ballots received after Election Day to be counted, rejecting a Republican-led challenge to a five-day grace period in Mississippi and dealing a setback to President Donald Trump.
The justices in a 5-4 ruling overturned a lower court’s decision that had deemed Mississippi’s law inconsistent with U.S. statutes that set the timing of federal elections – for the presidency, Senate and House of Representatives. Trump last year vowed to end the use of mail-in ballots nationwide before this November’s congressional elections, when his fellow Republicans are seeking to retain control of Congress.
The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberals in the majority. Barrett wrote the opinion.
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the decision.
Mississippi’s law permits mail-in ballots to be counted if they were postmarked on or before Election Day but received up to five business days after a federal election. Absentee voting by mail in Mississippi is limited to a few categories of voters including people age 65 and above, the disabled and those living away from home.
About 30 states and the District of Columbia accept at least some ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day but received afterward.
The Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in 2024 seeking to invalidate Mississippi’s law.
Trump’s administration backed the challenge. Restricting mail-in ballots would stand to disproportionately benefit Republicans given that Democratic voters traditionally have been more likely to use mail-in ballots than Republican voters.
After the ruling, Trump again called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a partisan federal elections bill that would require photo identification to vote and proof of citizenship to register to vote. Republicans have been unable to overcome Democratic opposition in the U.S. Senate, where 60 votes are required to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority.
“In light of the tremendous loss in the Supreme Court today concerning Voter’s Rights, and the fact that ‘people’s’ votes are allowed to be counted LONG AFTER an Election is over, it is more important than ever to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump wrote.
Trump added, “There is only one reason to oppose — CHEATING!”
Democrats have accused Trump of seeking measures that would make it harder for people to vote, especially groups that tend to favor Democratic candidates
A skeptical view
Republicans have taken a skeptical view toward mail-in ballots. Trump has sought to cast doubt on the security of these ballots, although evidence of voter fraud is rare. Trump issued an executive order in March to restrict mail-in ballots nationwide, but a federal judge in Boston on June 25 blocked its implementation.
Trump has continued to make false claims of widespread voting fraud in the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
During the first year of the COVID pandemic, the Republican-controlled Mississippi legislature in 2020 passed the law on mail-in voting on a bipartisan basis.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2024 ruled in favor of the Republican challengers. It declared that the measure was preempted by federal laws setting Election Day for federal elections as the “day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials.”
Federal law “does not permit the state of Mississippi to extend the period for voting by one day, five days or 100 days,” the 5th Circuit stated.
The 5th Circuit did not immediately block Mississippi’s procedures, but instead sent the case back to a trial judge for further review. The litigation was placed on hold pending the Supreme Court’s consideration.
During Supreme Court arguments in the case in March, some of the conservative justices expressed concerns that permissive mail-in ballot practices could cause the appearance of voter fraud. Some of the liberal justices said the arguments made by the challengers also would jeopardize the widespread practice of early voting prior to Election Day.
Though the 5th Circuit’s action applied only in the three states where the regional federal appeals court has jurisdiction — Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas — it called into question the voting practices in the other states with similar mail-in ballot policies.
The 5th Circuit’s decision would “override countless state laws from the past 165 years and largely require citizens to vote in person, on Election Day, in their home districts, without the secret-ballot system,” Mississippi said in its appeal.
Other election-related decisions
Acting in other election-related cases, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority in April gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, blocking an electoral map that had given Louisiana a second Black-majority U.S. congressional district.
The ruling makes it harder for minorities to challenge electoral maps as racially discriminatory under the 1965 civil rights law and represented a victory for Louisiana Republicans and Trump’s administration.
That decision prompted several Republican-led states to pursue redrawn electoral maps ahead of the midterms in an effort to put at risk U.S. House seats considered safely Democratic-held.
Mississippi has no shortage of quarterback talent entering the 2026 high school football season. From proven 3,000-yard passers to explosive dual-threat playmakers and reigning state champions, the Magnolia State is loaded with signal-callers capable of carrying their teams deep into November.
As we gear up for the 2026 season, High School On SI will be exploring Mississippi’s top players at each position. Today, we start with our list of quarterback to watch, highlighting 10 of the best signal callers in the state.
Elite Passers
Smith Stringer, Presbyterian Christian School
In 2025, Stringer completed nearly 61 percent of his passes for 2,783 yards and 37 touchdowns. He threw just seven interceptions, and there were three games where he threw for over 300 yards. Stringer also added 144 yards on the ground with two touchdowns on 24 carries.
Kellen Hall, Oak Grove
Hall completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,709 yards and 34 touchdowns last season. He displayed excellent decision-making as well as he threw only four interceptions. On the ground, Hall rushed for 189 yards and one touchdown on 39 carries. Hall also put the entire state on notice last season with his 438-yard and six touchdown performance in the 57-54 loss to Starkville.
Gavin Ducksworth, Hattiesburg
In 2025, Ducksworth completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,581 yards and 27 touchdowns with five interceptions. Ducksworth had two games where he passed for over 400 yards, and he finished with a quarterback rating of 137.1.
The Dynamic Dual-Threats
Paris Trivillion, Pass Christian
Few quarterbacks in Mississippi are more dangerous with both their arm and legs than Trivillion. In two full years as a starter, Trivillion has passed for over 4,600 yards with 53 touchdowns and rushed for over 1,800 yards with 23 touchdowns. In his junior season, he completed nearly 53 percent of his passes for 2,570 yards with 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 1,120 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Kingston Johnson, Starkville
Johnson finished the season last year by completing 51 percent of his passes for 2,510 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 488 yards and eight touchdowns. Johnson’s best game of the 2025 season came in the 57-54 win over Oak Grove. In that game, he passed for 486 yards and four touchdowns. Johnson also rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Caiden Wade, Kosciusko
Like Trivillion, Wade returns as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the state as he accounted for double-digit passing and rushing touchdowns. Through the air, Wade completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,402 yards and 22 touchdowns with only three interceptions. On the ground, Wade rushed the ball 107 times for 407 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Championship Leaders
Sullivan Reed, Lamar
The Mississippi State baseball commit has also shown he is one of the top quarterbacks in the state. Last season, Reed completed nearly 56 percent of his passes for 2,409 yards and 26 touchdowns to only seven interceptions. He added 334 more yards on the ground with six touchdowns.
Kross Avent, East Webster
Avent’s numbers might not jump off the stat sheet like some of the other signal callers on this list, but he displayed excellent decision making and leadership qualities as he helped the Wolverines capture the 2A state championship last year. He only completed 90 passes for the entire season, but in those 90 passes, he finished with 1,797 yards with 22 touchdowns. Avent averaged exactly 20 yards per completion which was one of the highest in the state. Lastly, he also rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns.
Rising Stars
Brady Chancelor, Seminary
Chancelor emerged as one of the state’s top young quarterbacks by passing for over 3,400 yards. He also completed 65 percent of his passes and tossed 28 passing touchdowns. In 2026, he will look to further add to his run game as he rushed for two touchdowns in 2025.
Kobe Payne, Aberdeen
Last season, Payne completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 2,005 yards and 26 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He also rushed for 274 yards and seven touchdowns. His best two-game stretch of 2025 came in the wins over Humphreys County and Booneville. In these two games, Payne passed for 639 yards combined with eight touchdowns.
Follow
The Mississippi State Bulldogs were the definition of a trap game in 2026. Despite going 5-8, they upset No. 12 Arizona State and pushed ranked Texas and Tennessee squads to overtime finishes.
The team made real strides in head coach Jeff Lebby’s second season, especially considering they were coming off of a 2-10 campaign. Whether or not they will be able to continue that momentum will hinge greatly on Lebby’s ability to build a team around exciting sophomore quarterback Kamario Taylor.
So, will the Bulldogs pose any kind of threat to Texas in 2026? Or can the Longhorns look ahead to a date with Lane Kiffin’s LSU Tigers later that month?
The Bulldogs May Frighten the Longhorns This Halloween
Mississippi State has every reason to take a step up in 2026. On top of letting Taylor take the reigns, Lebby is also brining back defensive coordinator Zach Arnett, who led three top-five SEC defenses from 2020-2022.
While the rest of the roster is fairly weak, it is not bereft of talent. Fluff Bothwell and Xavier Gayten form a solid backfield tandem whom will likely be even more productive next to a dynamic rusher like Taylor.
Lebby will no doubt grind teams down in the run game this season, the Bulldogs handed the ball off the third-most frequently of any SEC team in 2025 and Taylor is taking over for pocket-passer Blake Shapen. That means that they should be able to control the clock and limit possessions, factors which increase the likelihood of an upset victory.
That is particularly problematic for a Texas team that finished 110th in the FBS in time of possession last season and 75th the year before that. While that should improve as new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp is bringing a more aggressive style of defense, it will still be an issue for a pass-heavy Longhorns team.
This game also falls right in the middle of Texas’ SEC schedule, meaning they will have to properly recover after battling Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida and Ole Miss and ignore the temptation of looking ahead to games against Missouri, LSU, Arkansas and Texas A&M.
With all of that in mind, it is clear that the Longhorns will need to be wary of the Bulldogs this season, even with home-field advantage on their side.
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Mississippi
A new law could create a list of immigrants illegally living in Mississippi. Advocates are alarmed
A new Mississippi law will authorize the state’s top law enforcement agency to compile a list of all immigrants illegally living in the state.
What’s to be done with that information is a bit open-ended. But the law set to take effect Wednesday is sparking alarm among immigrant advocates, who fear it could become a new tactic to target immigrants in conjunction with President Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of people lacking legal approval to live in the U.S.
The law says the state Department of Public Safety “may use all reasonable lawful investigative means available” to determine the number and identities of all “illegal aliens” in Mississippi. That includes collecting their names, addresses, country of origin and whether they are an adult or minor. It also includes noting any criminal history and the date, location and status of deportation proceedings.
The department is directed to share information on those suspected of violating laws with state and local authorities. The measure neither requires nor prohibits the database from being shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Republican state Sen. Angela Hill, who sponsored the measure, said states have a right and obligation to assist the U.S. government in discouraging illegal immigration, which she said facilitates crimes such as human and drug trafficking.
The new law “seems like commonsense to me,” Hill said. “In order to address the problems caused by illegal immigration, we need to understand the magnitude of the problem. Identifying the number and identity of illegal aliens in Mississippi is a concrete way to better understand the problem.”
Immigration laws are proliferating in states
Nationwide, states already have enacted more than 100 immigration-related laws this year, according to an Associated Press tally.
In Republican-led states, those measures generally have aligned with Trump’s agenda by requiring local sheriffs to sign cooperative agreements with ICE, reinforcing eligibility restrictions for public benefits and directing election clerks to check voter rolls against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system in an attempt to flag noncitizens.
Democratic-led states generally have pushed back against Trump with new laws banning cooperative pacts with ICE, forbidding ICE tactics like wearing masks and restricting immigration enforcement actions in schools, hospitals and other sensitive locations without judicial warrants.
The closest thing to Mississippi’s new law appears to be a 2021 executive order by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. That measure directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to “use all lawful investigative means available” to determine the number and identities of all “illegal aliens” who had been transported from the nation’s southwest border to Florida.
The Florida agency did not respond to an AP request for information about the results of the executive order.
Trump’s administration, meanwhile, has stepped up enforcement of a decades-old federal law that requires noncitizens to register with the U.S. government.
Some question how the Mississippi law will work
The Mississippi law envisions more than a one-time count. It prescribes an ongoing effort to keep track of immigrants illegally in the state for the next two years. That could get complicated as people overstay visas, apply for new forms of legal status and move into and out the state.
“You can be undocumented today, and then have status tomorrow, and then lose it again next month, and then regain it three months from now,” said Efrén Olivares, vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income immigrants.
“It’s practically unworkable, but it’s also very worrisome, because it’s eerily reminiscent of other countries that have created lists of certain groups of people,” Olivares said.
State officials will need to come up with “a credible and fairly foolproof way of correctly determining someone’s immigration status,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit think tank that supports restrictions on immigration.
But Vaughan said the law “makes a lot of sense,” adding that it “raises the likelihood that someone’s illegal presence is going to come to the attention of federal authorities.”
Advocates say the law could break trust with police
Mississippi has one of the country’s smallest percentages of immigrants illegally residing in the state — fewer than 28,000 people, amounting to less than 1% of its population — according to a report by the American Immigration Council, which used 2023 Census Bureau data.
The new law “is very concerning for a bunch of different reasons,” including the potential to redirect law enforcement resources away from protecting the public to investigating people from foreign countries who may be contributing to the economy, said Victoria Francis, deputy director of state and local initiatives for the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of immigrants.
“A mandate like this invites profiling and turning entire communities into targets,” Francis said.
The law could undermine trust between police and residents, said Lydia Grizzell, policy and advocacy manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi.
“That increases the likelihood of individuals not reaching out to law enforcement when it’s needed – and that is opposite of the mission,” she said.
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