When the Court Gets It Wrong

My Christian/Patriot’s Review of the SCOTUS Mail-In Ballot Ruling

I’ll be honest with you. When I heard this ruling come down five to four, Justice Barrett writing the majority, Roberts sliding over to the left side of the bench again. My first reaction wasn’t political. It was almost grief and disbelief.

Not rage. Grief

Because I believe in this country. Not blindly, not like an idol. I know America isn’t the Kingdom of God. But I believe God’s hand has been on this nation in a unique way, and I believe that when we start dismantling the foundations of honest self-governance, we’re not just making a legal error. We’re being poor stewards of something we were entrusted with.

And right now, I feel like we’re fumbling it.

On the Ruling Itself

The Court ruled that states may continue counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day, provided state law allows it and the ballot was postmarked on time. Justice Barrett wrote the majority. She was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, again!, and the three liberal justices.

Justices Thomas and Alito dissented. Alito called it inconsistent with federal election law and two centuries of historical practice.

Two centuries.

Let that land for a second.

The fill-in host on Bongino’s show said something simple that I think is actually profound: if Thomas and Alito are on the same side of a decision, go with them. I don’t say that as blind hero worship. I say it because those two men have demonstrated, over decades, a consistent commitment to what the Constitution actually says — not what we wish it said, not what feels equitable in the moment, but what the text and the history of the law actually mean.

When those two men are dissenting together, I pay attention. You should too.

A Christian Perspective

Scripture is clear that God ordains governing authorities, and that order is a reflection of His nature. He is not a God of confusion. He is not a God of “close enough.” He is a God of yes and no, not yes and maybe-five-days-later.

Proverbs 11:1 says a false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.

I’m not calling anyone in this ruling deliberately dishonest. But I will say this, a system that cannot tell you with certainty when an election is over does not have just weights. It has shifting scales. And shifting scales, regardless of intent, produce outcomes that erode trust.

And trust, once broken in a democracy, is very hard to rebuild.

The church should care about this. Not because we’re a political party. But because we are called to be people of truth, and a functioning republic requires truth as its operating system. When the mechanisms of accountability become fuzzy and negotiable, the people suffer. And God’s people should be the first ones to say so calmly, clearly, without hatred, but without apology.

On Justice Barrett

I’ll say this carefully, because I don’t enjoy criticizing someone whose faith I share. Justice Barrett is a professed Christian and by most accounts a woman of genuine conviction.

But conviction about faith and conviction about constitutional originalism are not always the same thing. And joining Roberts, who has now become something of a weather vane in high-stakes decisions alongside the Court’s liberal bloc, on a ruling that Alito says contradicts TWO HUNDRED YEARS of American practice?

That’s not a small thing.

I pray for her. I genuinely do. I also think she got this one wrong.

The Bottom Line

Election Day should mean Election Day. Not Election Week. Not Election Fortnight. The moment we accept that the finish line can move after the race starts, we’ve changed the nature of the race.

As a Christian, I believe truth matters absolutely.

As a patriotic American, I believe the integrity of the vote is the last line of defense between self-governance and something much darker.

Today, five justices disagreed with me.

Thomas and Alito didn’t.

I know which side I’m on.

Reference: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dan-bongino-show/id965293227?i=1000774719062