A federal appeals court ruled last week that South Carolina's mail-in voting law is unconstitutional, finding that the state gave older voters an unfair advantage over younger ones.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision centers on a state law that removed absentee voting restrictions for all voters over the age of 65. Younger voters must meet specific criteria to vote by mail, such as being out of the country during the early voting period or being disabled.
"By granting voters aged sixty-five and older unconditional access to absentee-by-mail voting while conditioning that same option for younger voters on eligibility categories, documentation, and a rigid deadline, the state allocates voting opportunities unequally based solely on age," U.S. Circuit Chief Judge Roger Gregory wrote in the order.
The case began in 2023 when a group of younger voters sued the South Carolina Elections Commission, arguing the rule violated the 26th Amendment. A lower court initially dismissed the argument, but the plaintiffs appealed, and the case reached the Fourth Circuit.
The ruling sends the case back to lower courts with specific instructions. Gregory wrote that either all South Carolina voters must be entitled to vote absentee without restrictions, or none of them can be.
South Carolina representatives said they plan to appeal the decision further, which could bring the case to the Supreme Court. The ruling came the same week the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision largely favorable to President Donald Trump's effort to limit mail-in ballots nationally. Former White House deputy counsel Gene Hamilton said federal agencies such as the Postal Service can now move forward with parts of Trump's election-integrity order, including new ballot-mail standards and efforts involving state citizenship lists, as opposing states wait to see which federal actions could form the basis of new lawsuits. Further litigation is expected on that front as well.
