The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Republican lawmaker’s challenge to an Illinois absentee ballot law, ruling that he has legal standing to pursue his case. In a 7–2 decision, the court held that Rep. Michael Bost (R-Ill.) can challenge a state law that allows mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received and counted for up to two weeks afterward.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion. Roberts wrote that candidates have a “concrete and particularized” interest in the rules governing vote counting in their elections, even if those rules do not directly affect their chances of winning or increase campaign costs.
“Candidates have a concrete and particularized interest in the rules that govern the counting of votes in their elections, regardless whether those rules harm their electoral prospects or increase the cost of their campaigns,” Roberts noted in the ruling. “Their interest extends to the integrity of the election—and the democratic process by which they earn or lose the support of the people they seek to represent.”
Bost filed the lawsuit in 2022, arguing that the Illinois law conflicts with federal statutes that set a uniform Election Day for federal offices. Lower courts had dismissed the case, concluding he lacked the legal right, or “standing,” to bring the challenge.
Two liberal justices dissented, warning that the decision could lead to increased litigation over election laws, CNN reported.
Legal experts say the ruling could encourage similar challenges to voting rules in other states, especially as litigation over election procedures continues.
Illinois officials had argued that allowing the lawsuit to proceed could burden election administrators and disrupt the implementation of established voting practices.
Bost did not allege fraud in his filings, and former President Donald Trump has previously criticized mail-in voting and late ballot counting, though the Illinois law dates back to 2005.
“Today’s ruling could open the door to a lot of litigation—and potential chaos – on the far side of the next contested election,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
“If candidates will generally have standing to challenge how votes are counted in any election they’re running in, that could dramatically expand the horizon of legal challenges that can be brought challenging even those elections that were completely by the book,” Vladeck said, “potentially injecting more uncertainty in those critical days and weeks after Election Day going forward.”
Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in an dissent joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said Wednesday’s opinion could “destabilize” the election process by inspiring more litigation.
“By carving out a bespoke rule for candidate-plaintiffs — granting them standing ‘to challenge the rules that govern the counting of votes,’ simply and solely because they are ‘candidates’ for office — the court now complicates and destabilizes both our standing law and America’s electoral processes,” Jackson wrote.
Supporters of the decision, however, note that federal law and the Constitution specify an ‘election day’—not an election ‘cycle’ that often involves months, when you consider how early voting takes place in most states.
Pocketbook injuries are a common issue that often leads plaintiffs to pursue legal action to establish standing and continue their cases.
During oral arguments in October, conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that Bost’s expenses related to the law clearly demonstrated standing.
In the same arguments, Illinois officials argued that candidates must show that a rule change could significantly increase their risk of losing an election.
However, this argument did not resonate with the Supreme Court, with Chief Justice Roberts labeling it a “potential disaster” that would require courts to act as political forecasters, CNN reported.