NEW ORLEANS, La. (WLBT) – A state law allowing ballots to be received up to five days after Election Day has been struck down by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

However, the decision will not go into effect until Nov. 18, after the Nov. 5 general election, according to the Mississippi Secretary of State.

On Friday, the justices ruled that statehood was invalidated by federal law and violated provisions of the United States Constitution.

The decision is a win for state leaders, the national Republican Party and others who sued in January to block state leaders from enforcing the 2020 law that allows election officials to accept absentee ballots as long as they are postmarked that day. It is received within five days at most after the selection.

“I am happy to see the Fifth Circuit agree with the Republican National Committee,” said Pete Perry, a party in the case and former chairman of the Hinds County Republican Party. “Votes counted after election day are problematic and unconstitutional.”

The decision comes less than two weeks before November’s presidential election and more than four years after the state changed its election statutes during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

It represents a partial victory for the Republican Party. The court denied the plaintiffs’ request for permanent injunction against the state law and remanded the matter to the U.S. District Court for further proceedings.

The decision was made by a panel of three judges. The 24-page decision considered many factors, including historical priorities.

“Over the more than a century since Congress established a uniform federal Election Day, states have understood what these statutes mean: ballots must be received no later than the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November,” the court said.

The state argued that ballots are final once they are mailed.

But the court said that wasn’t the case because the U.S. Postal Service allows senders to retrieve their mail, which means voters can recall and change their ballots after Election Day is over.

“The election continues while election officials are still receiving ballots: the result is not yet final as live ballots are still being received,” the court said. “Although a single voter has made his final choice by marking his ballot, the entire administration must do so for the general election to be concluded.”

“The election ends when the final votes are cast and the voters, not the individual voter, make the choice.”

Although the court said all votes must be received by Election Day, they do not need to be counted.

“Yet the election is complete because officials know there are X ballots to be counted, and because the proverbial ballot box is closed, they also know there are X ballots to be counted,” the justices wrote. “In short, vote counting is one of several post-election ‘administrative actions’ that may occur after election day.”

“In contrast, receiving the final vote constitutes completion of the election, and this must occur on Election Day.”

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