Supreme Court upholds the mail-ballot rule rural Alaska relies on

The rule that lets much of rural Alaska vote by mail survived a U.S. Supreme Court challenge this summer, settling a question that had hung over the 2026 election.

On June 29, the court ruled 5-4 in Watson v. Republican National Committee that federal law does not require ballots to be received by Election Day. The Republican National Committee had argued that it did. The ruling upheld deadlines like Alaska's, where absentee ballots count if postmarked by Election Day and received within 10 days — 15 for overseas voters.

Alaska had a direct stake and filed a brief supporting neither side, telling the court that more than 80 percent of its communities are off the road system and that weather often makes boat or plane access unreliable, complicating the task of casting and receiving ballots on a single day. Roughly 30 states count at least some late-arriving ballots.

With the rule intact for 2026, the deadline to apply for a by-mail ballot for the Aug. 18 primary is Aug. 8. Online or faxed requests are due by 5 p.m. Aug. 17.