Supreme Court Decides Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections

On January 14, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections, No. 24-568, holding that candidates for office have standing under Article III of the United States Constitution to challenge laws governing the counting of votes in elections.

Under Illinois law, mail-in ballots received within two weeks of election day are to be counted, provided the votes were postmarked or certified by election day. Petitioners, candidates for office, sued the Illinois State Board of Elections, arguing that the law violates 2 U.S.C. § 7 and 3 U.S.C. § 1, which sets election day as the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

The district court dismissed the lawsuit for lack of standing. The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded.

Under Article III, a plaintiff must have a “personal stake” in a lawsuit to have standing to sue. And the injury to the plaintiff must be distinct from an injury suffered by the public at large. The candidates for office at issue here satisfied that requirement, because rules governing elections, including the counting of votes, “can injure a candidate in several ways.” Whether they are likely to win or lose, or whether they do in fact win or lose, “candidates suffer when the [election] process departs from law.” And this harm is distinct from the harm experienced by the general public, because the impact of counting unlawful votes uniquely affects the candidate. It could cause the candidate to lose the election, but even when that is not the case, it could require the candidate to spend additional resources on campaigning or decrease the candidate’s vote share and thus damage the candidate’s reputation.

Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court, which was joined by Justice Alito, Justice Thomas, Justice Gorsuch, and Justice Kavanaugh. Justice Barrett filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, which was joined by Justice Kagan. Justice Jackson filed a dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justice Sotomayor.