Mailing your ballot? Check whether your state counts the postmark or the arrival date

Voters who mail their ballots for the Nov. 3 election face two different deadlines depending on where they live, and a Postal Service rule change means mailing on Election Day can be riskier than it used to be.

Two kinds of deadlines

Most states require a mailed ballot to arrive at the election office by Election Day. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 35 states follow that rule.

The other 15 states and the District of Columbia count ballots that arrive after Election Day as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. NCSL lists those states as Alaska, California, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. How many days a late-arriving ballot has varies by state; the table updated Sept. 25 gives each one.

Kansas is a special case. A 2025 state law would have required mailed ballots to arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day, but a state district court blocked it in July, and the Kansas Supreme Court turned away the secretary of state’s attempt to lift that order, NCSL reports. For now, Kansas counts ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive within three days.

Three states ended their grace periods in 2025, NCSL says: Ohio, Utah and North Dakota. Voters there must make sure their ballots arrive by Election Day.

What the Supreme Court decided

In Watson v. Republican National Committee, decided June 29, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the federal laws setting the date of Election Day do not require mail ballots to be received by that day. The opinion, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, reversed a ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in a case from Mississippi. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissent, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, and in part by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The practical effect: each state’s own deadline still applies this year.

Why the postmark may not match the day you mailed

A U.S. Postal Service rule that took effect Dec. 24, 2025, says the postmark date does not necessarily show the first day the Postal Service had the envelope. With fewer pickups and more processing at regional plants, a ballot dropped in a mailbox on Election Day can be postmarked a day or more later, Stateline reported. In postmark states, that can be the difference between a ballot that counts and one that does not.

What officials advise

• The Postal Service recommends mailing a completed ballot at least one week before it is due at the election office.
• At a post office retail counter, voters can ask for a manual postmark, which the Postal Service says it applies free of charge.
• Where the state offers them, an official drop box or vote center avoids the mail altogether. Close to Election Day, some officials, including California’s attorney general in 2025, have advised voters to use them instead of the mail, according to Stateline.
• Many states let voters track their mail ballot online.

Rules on drop boxes, tracking and deadlines differ by state. Vote.gov links to each state’s election office.