2026年3月23日 上午10:02 UTC / 路透社
美国最高法院周一将开庭审理密西西比州一项法律的辩护案，该法律受到共和党人的挑战。该法律允许在选举日后收到的邮寄选票有五天宽限期仍可计数，此案可能导致全国范围内实施更严格的投票规则。
共和党总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府正支持对密西西比州法律的挑战。该法律规定，特定选民寄出的邮寄选票，只要在选举日当天或之前加盖邮戳，且在联邦选举后最多五天内收到，即可计入票数。根据该法律，邮寄缺席投票仅限于少数几类选民，包括老年人、残疾人以及离家在外的人。
最高法院将听取密西西比州就下级法院认定该法律非法的裁决提出上诉的辩论。
特朗普去年誓言在2026年美国中期选举前在全国范围内终止邮寄选票的使用，这一举措可能会不成比例地惠及他的政党，因为民主党选民传统上比共和党选民更倾向于使用邮寄选票。
共和党人对邮寄选票持怀疑态度。特朗普试图质疑这些选票的安全性，尽管选民欺诈的证据极为罕见。特朗普继续就2020年总统选举中所谓的大规模投票欺诈提出虚假指控，而他在那次选举中输给了民主党人乔·拜登。
约有30个州和哥伦比亚特区接受至少部分在选举日当天或之前加盖邮戳但在之后收到的选票。
共和党全国委员会、密西西比州共和党以及其他原告于2024年提起诉讼，试图宣告密西西比州的法律无效。
在新冠疫情第一年（2020年），由共和党控制的密西西比州立法机构以两党合作方式通过了这项法律。
总部位于新奥尔良的美国第五巡回上诉法院2024年裁定支持共和党挑战者，宣布该措施被联邦法律优先，联邦法律规定选举日为”选民投票和州官员收到选票的截止日”。
第五巡回法院指出：”联邦法律不允许密西西比州将投票期限延长一天、五天或一百天。”
第五巡回法院并未立即阻止密西西比州的相关程序，而是将案件发回初审法官进一步审查。目前诉讼因最高法院正在审议而暂停。
尽管第五巡回法院的裁决仅适用于其管辖范围内的三个州——密西西比州、路易斯安那州和得克萨斯州，但这一裁决对其他有类似邮寄选票政策的州的投票实践提出了质疑。
密西西比州在上诉中表示，第五巡回法院的裁决将”推翻过去165年来无数的州法律，在很大程度上要求公民在选举日当天亲自到家乡选区投票，而无法使用秘密投票制度”。
报道：安德鲁·钟；编辑：威尔·邓纳姆
US Supreme Court weighs Republican bid to limit mail-in voting
March 23, 2026 10:02 AM UTC / Reuters
The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Monday to hear Mississippi’s defense of a state law challenged by Republicans that allows a five-day grace period for mail-in ballots received after Election Day to be counted in a case that could lead to stricter voting rules around the country.
Republican President Donald Trump’s administration is backing the challenge to Mississippi’s law, which permits mail-in ballots sent by certain voters to be counted if they were postmarked on or before Election Day but received up to five business days after a federal election. Absentee voting by mail is limited to a few categories of voters under the law including elderly people, the disabled and those living away from home.
The Supreme Court is due to hear arguments in Mississippi’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that deemed the law illegal.
Trump last year vowed to end the use of mail-in ballots nationwide before the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, a move that likely would disproportionately benefit his party given that Democratic voters traditionally have been more likely to use mail-in ballots than Republican voters.
Republicans have taken a skeptical view toward mail-in ballots. Trump has sought to cast doubt on the security of these ballots, although evidence of voter fraud is rare. Trump has continued to make false claims of widespread voting fraud in the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
About 30 states and the District of Columbia accept at least some ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day but received afterward.
The Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in 2024 seeking to invalidate Mississippi’s law.
During the first year of the COVID pandemic, the Republican-controlled Mississippi legislature in 2020 passed the law on a bipartisan basis.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2024 ruled in favor of the Republican challengers. It declared that the measure was preempted by federal laws setting Election Day for federal elections as the “day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials.”
Federal law “does not permit the state of Mississippi to extend the period for voting by one day, five days or 100 days,” the 5th Circuit stated.
The 5th Circuit did not immediately block Mississippi’s procedures, but instead sent the case back to a trial judge for further review. The litigation is currently on hold pending the Supreme Court’s consideration.
Though the 5th Circuit’s action applied only in the three states where the regional federal appeals court has jurisdiction – Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas – it called into question the voting practices in the other states with similar mail-in ballot policies.
The 5th Circuit’s decision would “override countless state laws from the past 165 years and largely require citizens to vote in person, on Election Day, in their home districts, without the secret-ballot system,” Mississippi said in its appeal.
Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham
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