Trump Administration Renews Supreme Court Bid to Limit Mail-In Voting

The Trump administration on Sunday renewed its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow restrictions on mail-in voting to take effect ahead of November’s congressional elections, after a federal judge blocked the measures last week.

Administration lawyers filed an emergency application with the nation’s highest court seeking permission for the U.S. Postal Service to implement new rules restricting mail-in voting. The move comes as some states have already begun sending mail ballots to voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston extended an injunction preventing the new rules from taking effect. The final decision on whether the restrictions can proceed is now likely to rest with the Supreme Court.

Solicitor General John Sauer, representing the Trump administration, urged the Supreme Court to allow the rules to take effect immediately. He warned that every additional day the lower court’s injunction remains in place could increase the risk of “confusion and chaos” as more states distribute mail ballots.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson set a Wednesday deadline for responses to the administration’s request.

The administration had previously filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to overturn Talwani’s initial, shorter-term injunction. Before the Supreme Court ruled on that request, Talwani extended the ban on Friday, prompting the administration to submit a new filing on Sunday.

The USPS introduced the new rules in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March. Trump has for years advocated restrictions on mail-in voting and has repeatedly made false claims that widespread voter fraud was responsible for his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

Under the new rules, states would be required to provide the USPS with lists of voters receiving mail ballots. All outbound and return ballot envelopes would also have to carry unique barcodes. The rules would allow the Postal Service to refuse to deliver ballots that fail to meet the new standards or are linked to voters who are not included on the state-provided lists.

All 50 U.S. states allow some form of mail-in voting. Twenty-nine states allow voters to request a mail ballot without providing a specific reason, while eight states conduct elections entirely by mail.

North Carolina on Friday became the first state to begin mailing ballots for the November elections.

Reporting by Tim Reid in Washington and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Sergio Non and Paul Simao.

Source: Reuters