August 8, 2026 - WASHINGTON – On Friday, Senator Mike Lee released the following:

U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) cosponsored the Ballots by Election Day Act with Senator James Lankford (R-OK) to require that all absentee and mail-in ballots in federal elections be received by the time polls close on Election Day in order to be counted.

“Congress holds the constitutional authority to set the times, places, and manner of federal elections,” said Senator Mike Lee. “States counting late ballots are inviting fraud and sowing doubt in their own election results. Our bill will clarify protocol and restore trust by counting only ballots received before the polls close on election day.”

"Election Day should mean Election Day," said Senator James Lankford. "Americans should not have to wait days or weeks while states like California keep counting ballots. The SAVE Act, this bill, and every other effort to secure our elections are about the same thing: making sure the American people can trust the results. If your ballot is going to count, it needs to be in the hands of election officials by the time the polls close."

Background

In Watson v. Republican National Committee, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to five days later and held that federal election-day statutes do not set a deadline for ballot receipt. The Ballots by Election Day Act legislatively closes this gap by setting a uniform federal deadline that requires ballots to be in the hands of election officials by the time polls close to be counted as valid.

The Ballots by Election Day Act:

• Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require that absentee and mail-in ballots in federal elections be received by the appropriate election official no later than the time polls close on Election Day.
• Prohibits states from counting absentee or mail-in ballots received after polls close on Election Day.
• Preserves existing protections for absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).
• Applies to federal elections held in 2027 and every year thereafter.

Read the full bill text here.

Source: Sennator Mike Lee