U.S. Supreme Court to hear Representative Bost’s case on mail-in voting

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – According to Capitol News Illinois (CNI), the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal on a lawsuit led by Illinois Republican U.S. Representative Mike Bost challenging Illinois’ mail-in voting law.

CNI reports Rep. Bost and a pair of Illinois primary delegates for President Donald Trump sued the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2022, arguing that the state’s law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day violates the federal law establishing an “Election Day.” Both a lower federal trial court and federal appeals court have ruled Bost lacked standing to sue.

The Supreme Court said its ruling will focus on whether Rep. Bost, of Murphysboro, in his role as a political candidate, has legal grounds to sue over a state’s election law, rather than if Illinois’ mail-in voting law is legal, because the appeal challenges lower court rulings that Rep. Bost allegedly did not have legal grounds to sue.

According to CNI, a favorable ruling for Rep. Bost by the Supreme Court could force lower courts to issue a ruling about Illinois’ law. It’s not clear when the nation’s high court will hear Bost’s case. The court is scheduled to begin hearing oral arguments in October.

According to this report, under Illinois law, ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted as late as 14 days after the election as they arrive at local election offices. Rep. Bost’s case argues this violates the federal law establishing Election Day by allowing votes to arrive and be counted for two weeks after the polls close.