BREAKING: Appeals Court Rules All Mail-In Ballots Must Be Received by Election Day In Order to Be Counted

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled all mail-in ballots must be received by election day in order to be counted.

The panel of three Trump-appointed judges – Andrew Oldham, James Ho and Kyle Duncan – said Mississippi was violating federal law by counting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day.

“Congress statutorily designated a singular ‘day for the election’ of members of Congress and the appointment of presidential electors,” the 5th Circuit panel said, according to CNN. “Text, precedent, and historical practice confirm this ‘day for the election’ is the day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials.”

The RNC filed a lawsuit in Mississippi seeking to stop the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

The Democrats use mail-in ballots to cheat.

“The 5th Circuit’s ruling is only binding on the three Southern states covered by the circuit, and for now, the panel is not ordering that the policy be blocked in Mississippi for the current election, instead sending the case down for more proceedings,” CNN reported.

CNN reported:

A panel of three Donald Trump-appointed judges said Friday that Mississippi was violating federal law by counting mail ballots that arrive after Election Day, but stopped short of blocking the policy before the election, in a ruling that could nevertheless impact voting-related lawsuits this fall.

The ruling from the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals is a victory for the Republican National Committee and others who brought the case in Mississippi, a non-battleground state with very little mail-in voting, seeking a ruling by a far-right circuit court friendly to their arguments.

Democrats and voting rights advocates fear that a ruling in Republicans’ favor will be used to boost challenges to late-arriving ballots in other states, which could make the difference if the margins are tight in key races.

Among the states that allow for late-arriving ballots are Nevada, Ohio and Virginia, as does Maryland, the site of a competitive Senate race.

Also allowing for post-election ballot receipt is California and New York, both states that could make a major difference in which party controls the House of Representatives.

Even as the ruling has no immediate effect on the coming election, it could help propel any legal challenges that Republicans seek to bring against any of the roughly other 20 states and jurisdictions that count ballots arriving after Election Day. Nevada’s policies allowing the late arrival of mail ballots are already being challenged in state and federal court by Republicans, but courts in those cases so far have rejected those arguments.