Supreme Court Opens Door to Trump Mail-Ballot Restrictions Before Midterms

 

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared a major legal hurdle for President Donald Trump's administration to implement an executive order restricting the use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections, but the justices did not issue a final ruling on the legality of the order.

The justices granted a Justice Department emergency request to put on hold a June injunction issued by Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani 

 

that had blocked the administration from implementing the directive in 23 mostly Democrat-governed states and Washington, D.C., that sued to stop it.

The ruling allows the administration to move forward with the directive despite that injunction, but it does not resolve the underlying legal dispute.

Instead, Monday's action was a ruling on whether the lower-court injunction should remain in effect while the case proceeds, leaving open the possibility of further litigation as the midterm elections approach.

The Supreme Court did not act on a separate nationwide injunction Talwani issued on Aug. 11 that blocks the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing the directive's tighter rules for voting by mail.

The Justice Department had asked the Supreme Court to make clear that its decision applied to both injunctions, but the justices did not do so.

That means Monday's ruling does not give the administration an unrestricted green light to implement every part of Trump's order.

The three liberal justices dissented from Monday's decision. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

Trump's executive order, issued in March, directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile and transmit to the states a list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state.

It also directed the Justice Department to prioritize investigating and prosecuting state and local election officials who issue ballots to people deemed "not eligible" to vote in federal elections.

The order further required the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots only to voters on each state's approved mail-in-ballot list. The Postal Service has moved to implement Trump's directive, although enforcement of its new rules remains blocked by Talwani's separate nationwide injunction.

Trump has vowed to end the use of mail-in ballots nationwide before the midterms and has long raised concerns about the security of mail voting.

Republicans are seeking to retain control of Congress in the closely contested midterm elections. Restrictions on mail-in voting could have a greater impact on Democrats because Democrat voters have traditionally been more likely than Republicans to use mail ballots.

Talwani ruled in June that the president lacked authority to order changes in how states administer federal elections, noting that the Constitution gives states a role in determining voter-eligibility requirements.

She also concluded that federal agencies lacked the ability to compile accurate citizenship lists for each state.

The Justice Department had argued that the states' lawsuit was premature and that they lacked legal standing to challenge Trump's directive because federal agencies had not yet taken concrete actions affecting them.

The administration argued that any harm claimed by the states was therefore speculative.

The states countered that the administration's effort to change mail-voting rules ahead of the midterms created immediate election-administration concerns, including potential compliance costs and changes to voting procedures.

Talwani rejected the administration's arguments, finding that the states had legal standing because they faced election-administration disruptions, compliance costs, and a credible threat of criminal prosecution.

The Supreme Court's Monday order changes the immediate effect of Talwani's June ruling, but it does not settle the broader constitutional questions surrounding Trump's executive order.

The states remain able to pursue further litigation, and the dispute could return to the Supreme Court as the November elections approach.

Trump's executive order is part of his broader effort to make changes to U.S. election procedures.

He has also pressed the Republican-controlled Congress to pass a package of voting restrictions called the SAVE America Act.

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