SCOTUS asked to decide challenge to IL’s post election ballot counts
[May 27, 2025]
By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to intervene
in a case that could reshape how federal candidates challenge state
election laws, specifically whether Illinois U.S. Rep. Mike Bost has the
legal standing to sue Illinois over its 14-day mail ballot receipt
deadline.
Russell Nobile, counsel for Bost, R-Murphysboro, explained that the
Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the case on
jurisdictional grounds, stating that the plaintiffs lacked standing to
sue.
Nobile disagrees with this assessment, arguing that Bost's campaign
incurs additional costs due to the extended ballot counting period,
constituting a tangible injury.
“For 130 years, federal courts have always had jurisdiction to hear
cases like this. So this is a very novel, unusual, and frankly,
unrealistic opinion about the impact these rules have on elections and
how much they cost candidates. We believe it’s plainly inconsistent with
longstanding law,” said Nobile. “Frankly, the court disagreed with its
own precedent – and with precedent from the Fifth Circuit and other
circuits. We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will hear the case and
bring this ruling in line with the rest of the circuits.”
The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found counting ballots after
election day to be unlawful. The Seventh Circuit never addressed the
core question about the legality of Illinois’ extended ballot counting
period. Instead, it issued a jurisdictional ruling.
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“Congressman Bost has to run his campaign an extra 14 days over 34
counties, so obviously this costs his campaign extra money. You have
to actually show an injury, and in this case, the injury is
financial. It doesn’t have to be a lot. It could be just $1, but it
clearly costs them money,” said Nobile. “Federal courts clearly have
jurisdiction over the question we raise in general, but the question
is, does he have a sufficient injury to trigger that jurisdiction?”
Nobile said there was a Mississippi case that made it through and
the Fifth Circuit and the judge ruled on the merits. The Seventh
Circuit has never ruled on the merits of this question regarding
ballot receipt.
In Mississippi, the law allowed mail-in ballots to be counted for
five days after Election Day.
“But the Illinois case specifically, we still have the merits
question, ‘are ballots received late, violating federal law?’ We're
hopeful that the Supreme Court will decide that the Seventh Circuit
should have heard the question and rule on the merits,” said Nobile.
Carol Davis, election integrity advocate, said it’s been frustrating
for conservatives to be “repeatedly denied standing in court, while
those on the left always have standing.”
She said an order from the Supreme Court will hopefully establish
that candidates have standing in cases in which laws put them at a
disadvantage.
Tom Fitton is the president of Judicial Watch.
“I tell you, counting ballots after election day is a great way to
invite fraud. It undermines confidence in the elections, plus it's
downright illegal,” said Fitton. |
