In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld Mississippi’s absentee ballot law, allowing election officials to count ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive up to five business days later. The ruling leaves intact similar laws in 18 states and territories, as well as separate grace periods many states provide for military and overseas voters.

“What I hate about situations like this is people will tell Black folks, 'Don't overreact.' "That's not what he meant,” Charlamagne said. “But how come the mistakes always got to do with something that removes our rights?” He added, “Nobody ever accidentally says, you know what? I hope everybody gets free health care. I hope everybody gets free reparations.”

The fear among critics is not simply that Republicans may win more seats in 2026. It is that the machinery now being built at the state level could eventually produce enough institutional power to permanently alter how American democracy functions.

Republican lawmakers across the South are moving rapidly to redraw congressional maps, dismantle Black voting districts, and reshape political power before the 2026 midterm elections, triggering a sweeping legal and civil rights battle that advocates say threatens some of the most important gains secured since passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

A country that once made it illegal to teach enslaved Black people to read is now arguing over whether Black history itself belongs in classrooms.