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The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Wednesday (October 8) in Bost v. Illinois, a case that could significantly change who has the legal right to challenge election laws, per HuffPost.
The case centers on Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), a Trump ally, and two GOP electors, Laura Pollastrini and Susan Sweeney, who sued the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2022. They argue that counting mail-in ballots up to 14 days after Election Day, as allowed under Illinois law as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, is unconstitutional.
Bost claims that such “untimely votes” dilute lawful ballots and force campaigns to spend money on verification efforts, thus constituting a legal injury. Two lower courts rejected Bost's case after the Republican lawmaker won his race in 2022, saying he had no standing to sue because he could not prove an actual injury.
U.S. District Judge John Kness, a Trump appointee, wrote that Illinois’ deadline “supports the Constitution,” noting that other states use similar post-election deadlines. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision, calling Bost’s argument a “generalized grievance.”
Bost, represented by conservative group Judicial Watch, appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case in June. The Court will now decide whether potential future costs to a campaign are enough to justify a lawsuit.
A ruling in Bost’s favor could have sweeping implications. Legal experts warn it may lower the bar for bringing election lawsuits, a precedent Trump and his allies could exploit to delay vote counts or challenge results based on minimal claims of harm.
In past elections, Trump has pushed baseless fraud claims, especially targeting mail-in ballots. In 2020, those claims fueled the “Stop the Steal” movement and the January 6 Capitol riot. In 2024, Trump briefly embraced mail-in voting only to later return to attacking it. In August, he declared on Truth Social that “ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING” and vowed to end the practice via executive order, despite lacking constitutional authority to do so.
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