The Chamberlain Network Files Amicus Brief Defending Military and Overseas Voters in Watson v. RNC

Atlanta, GA: The Chamberlain Network has filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in Watson v. Republican National Committee (No. 24-1260), supporting Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson’s defense of the state’s mail-ballot receipt deadline. Mississippi counts absentee ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day and received within five business days after the election.

Our message to the Court is straightforward: when voters follow the rules and send their ballots on time, slow mail should not erase their vote.

Why we filed.

Veterans know what it means to serve far from home. So do military spouses, dependents, diplomats, aid workers, teachers, students, missionaries, and other Americans living abroad.

For many of them, voting is not a walk to the corner precinct. It is a ballot moving through a ship, a base mailroom, an Army Post Office, a foreign postal system, and an election office back home. A voter can do everything right and still lose control of the mail.

That is why states have long built practical safeguards for military and overseas voters. These laws do not give anyone extra time to vote. Election Day remains the voter’s deadline. They simply allow states to count valid ballots that were cast on time and arrived shortly after, inside the lawful window.

Our brief aims to help the Court see what this rule means for those who serve, those who move with them, and those who remain citizens even when duty or work carries them across an ocean.

Our position.

A democracy keeps faith with voters when it honors the rules they were told to follow.

The Supreme Court should reverse the Fifth Circuit and preserve the ability of states to count lawful, timely cast absentee ballots that arrive within state deadlines. For military and overseas voters, that safeguard can be the difference between casting a ballot and watching it disappear somewhere between a ship, a base, and home.

To read the full brief, access it on the Supreme Court website: Brief of Amici Curiae Individuals and Organizations Representing Military and Overseas Voters in Support of Petitioner, Watson v. Republican National Committee, No. 24-1260.