By Nate Raymond and Jack Queen
(Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Friday said it was illegal for states to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day, siding with Republicans in a case challenging Mississippi's five-day grace period.
The ruling by a conservative three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not strike down Mississippi's law but called into question mail-in voting practices used in about 20 states nationally, in a voting-rights fight that many predict will end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The judges did not order any immediate changes to Mississippi's procedures and left it up to a lower court to decide what to do next, saying it was important to preserve the status quo ahead of the Nov. 5 election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump. The election will also decide control of Congress.
Republicans are generally skeptical of mail-in ballots, with Trump repeatedly claiming without evidence that they are sources of widespread fraud.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley praised the decision in a statement.
"This is a major win for election integrity, upholding the law and commonsense ballot safeguards," Whatley said.
Representatives for the Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
A spokesperson for Republican Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said: "We respect the court's decision and look forward to further proceedings in the case."
The decision only directly applies to states under the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction: Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. It is a win for the Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party and two Republican voters who sued in January to challenge the Mississippi law, which was enacted by the state's Republican-controlled legislature in 2020. The state's Libertarian Party filed a similar lawsuit.
U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham, a Trump appointee, wrote for the panel that Mississippi's law was preempted by federal law establishing a singular day for the election of Congress and the president.
"Federal law requires voters to take timely steps to vote by Election Day," he wrote. "And federal law does not permit the state of Mississippi to extend the period for voting by one day, five days, or 100 days."
The decision in the case comes as Democrats and Republicans spar over election rules in scores of lawsuits across more than two-dozen states, including the handful that will likely decide the next president.
Also on Friday, a federal judge blocked Virginia's removal of people it said had not proved their citizenship from voter rolls, saying it ran afoul of a federal prohibition on purging large numbers of voters in the final 90 days before an election.
Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said the state will appeal.