On November 10, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Watson v Republican National Committee, 24-1260. This is the case over Mississippi law that allows three days for absentee postal ballots to arrive in election administration offices. The Fifth Circuit had ruled that the 1872 federal law telling the states to hold congressional elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in election years really means that all ballots must be received by that day. No other court had ever interpreted the 1872 law to mean anything about the timeline for when absentee ballots arrive.

After the Fifth Circuit had ruled, the state had asked for a rehearing en banc. The vote before all the judges of the Fifth Circuit had been 5-10. It is significant that five judges were willing to vote that the original panel had been mistaken. One reason the Fifth Circuit was wrong is that their decision treats different voters differently. Voters who live overseas have no choice but to vote absentee. The Fifth Circuit means that they must cast their ballot earlier than ordinary voters, in some cases perhaps a month earlier.

The Mississippi Libertarian Party is also in this case, on the side of the Republican National Committee.