Appeals Court Rejects Miss. Law on Late Mail-In Ballots

A U.S. appeals court on Friday sided with Republicans by finding a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted if they are received up to five days after an election ran afoul of federal law stipulating when Election Day occurs.

The ruling by a conservative three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called into question mail-in voting practices used in about 20 states nationally in a voting rights fight that many predict may end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.