Cite as: 609 U. S. ____ (2026) 19 Opinion of the Court to “authoriz[e] the reception of and counting of ballots subsequent to the election day fixed by law.” Id., at 228, 149 P. 2d, at 117 (Morris, J., concurring); see id., at 229, 149 P. 2d, at 118 (Erickson, J., dissenting in part) (“The majority does not question the right of the legislature to make provision for the counting of ballots which are not received until after election day”). So if Maddox is instructive, it is a point in favor of Mississippi’s interpretation, not plaintiffs’. And if plaintiffs accept the premise that interpretations of the election-day statutes from the 1940s are relevant, they are up against more than Maddox. During the 1940s, seven other States authorized the receipt of ballots after election day, reflecting the belief that they were free to do so. See Hearings on H. R. 3436 before the House Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress, 78th Cong., 1st Sess., 100–104 (1943). Plaintiffs offer no evidence that any of these laws was ever even challenged under the election-day statutes. In addition, the same year that Maddox was decided, Congress passed a law providing that “ ‘any extension of time for the receipt of absentee ballots permitted by State laws shall apply’ ” to special federal war ballots “ ‘cast’ ” by soldiers. Act of Apr. 1, 1944, 58 Stat. 146. This precursor to UOCAVA suggests that Congress itself did not understand the federal election-day laws to prevent States from setting the deadline for ballot receipt after election day. Finally, plaintiffs assert that requiring ballots to be received by election day protects election integrity and increases voter confidence in election results. See, e.g., Brief for Republican Respondents 46–48; accord, post, at 16–22. As we have said time and again, however, policy arguments are properly directed to legislatures, not courts. See, e.g., SAS Institute Inc. v. Iancu, 584 U. S. 357, 368 (2018); BP p.l.c. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 593 U. S. 230, 245 (2021). The question today is not whether requiring