Watson v. Republican National Committee · ¶51

And if plaintiffs accept the premise that interpretations of the election-day statutes from the 1940s are relevant, they are up against more than Maddox. During the 1940s, seven other States authorized the receipt of ballots after election day, reflecting the belief that they were free to do so. See Hearings on H. R. 3436 before the House Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress, 78th Cong., 1st Sess., 100–104 (1943). Plaintiffs offer no evidence that any of these laws was ever even challenged under the election-day statutes. In addition, the same year that Maddox was decided, Congress passed a law providing that “‘any extension of time for the receipt of absentee ballots permitted by State laws shall apply’” to special federal war ballots “‘cast’” by soldiers. Act of Apr. 1, 1944, 58 Stat. 146. This precursor to UOCAVA suggests that Congress…

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