U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Mississippi Case on Whether an 1872 Federal Law Really Means All Ballots Must Arrive by Election Day

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.

California Opponents of New U.S. House Districts File Brief Explaining the Basis of Lawsuit

On November 7, opponents of the new California U.S. House districts filed this Memorandum of Points & Authorities, setting forth the theory of why the new California U.S. House districts are unconstitutional. They charge that the new districts are a racial gerrymander,designed to help Hispanics. See it here. They are asking for a hearing in December.

Democratic Party Nominee Who Was Public About her Membership in the Communist Party Wins Election to Ithaca, NY Council

See this story from peoplesworld.org.

Thanks to Robert K. Stock for the link. Here is the sample ballot.

Hannah Shvets was the Democratic Party nominee, and she was on the ballot as the nominee of both the Democratic Party and the Working Families Party. Her only opponent, incumbent G. P. Zurenda, was on the ballot with the label “Affordable Ithaca.” He had lost the Democratic primary in June 2025 to Shvets.