SCOTUS agrees with Attorney General Alan Wilson on protecting ballot integrity

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson applauded a Supreme Court ruling today that agrees with a friend-of-the-court brief he joined last summer. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that an Illinois Congressman can challenge that state’s law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted even if they are received after Election Day.

“We want to protect the integrity of everyone’s ballots, including people who vote by mail, and it’s our position that counting mail-in ballots that come in after Election Day opens up the system to fraud,” Attorney General Wilson said.

The Supreme Court ruled that Illinois Rep. Mike Bost can sue over an Illinois law allowing late mail-in ballots to be counted. He sued the Illinois State Board of Elections and its director in May 2022, arguing that counting ballots received after Election Day violates federal law. The federal district court dismissed the case, ruling that Bost didn’t have standing to sue, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal. However, the Supreme Court ruled that Bost does have standing to sue and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings.