Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee

In the lead-up to Wisconsin’s April 7, 2020 primary, a federal district court extended the absentee ballot return deadline to accommodate voters during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing ballots postmarked up to April 13 to be counted. The Republican National Committee and Wisconsin Republican Party filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court to stay that order. On April 6, 2020, the Supreme Court granted the stay in a 5-4 decision along ideological lines. The Court held that the district court’s extension likely violated the principle that state legislatures, not federal courts, set election rules, particularly so close to an election. Consequently, only absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day were counted, effectively curtailing the grace period and requiring voters to return ballots by the original statutory deadline.

The U.S. Supreme Court granted the emergency application for a stay, vacating the district court’s extension. The ruling required that all absentee ballots be postmarked on or before Election Day, April 7, 2020, in order to be counted, thereby reinstating the original statutory deadline and rejecting the pandemic-related accommodations ordered by the lower court.

Whether a federal district court’s extension of the absentee ballot receipt deadline during the COVID-19 pandemic unconstitutionally altered state election laws just days before the primary, and whether the Supreme Court should intervene to restore the original postmark deadline set by the Wisconsin legislature.

The decision ignited fierce partisan debate over voter suppression and judicial intervention in election administration during a public health emergency. Critics argued the ruling disenfranchised thousands of voters who could not safely return ballots by the tight deadline, disproportionately affecting urban and minority communities. Supporters hailed it as a defense of legislative authority and electoral integrity. The case set a precedent for a wave of COVID-19 election litigation in 2020, hardening political divisions over mail-in voting and prompting heightened public scrutiny of the Supreme Court’s role in shaping access to the ballot.