Watson v. Republican National Committee · ¶111

The majority separately suggests that an election-day ballot-receipt deadline would call into question the validity of early voting, as early-arriving ballots would not be received on election day. Ante, at 14. But, to reiterate, it is the electorate’s decision, not the voter’s, that constitutes the “election.” And no matter when a State receives voters’ individual ballots, the electorate’s choice is not made until all ballots have been cast and collected. So long as that occurs on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, the election-day statutes are satisfied.

slip opinion
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.