The US Supreme Court rejected an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that sought to impose new restrictions on mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections scheduled for November. The ruling upheld a temporary injunction previously issued by a federal judge that had blocked the US Postal Service from implementing the new requirements.
Trump signed the executive order in March, directing the USPS to deliver ballots exclusively to voters appearing on official citizen lists. The order also mandated the use of unique barcodes on postal ballot envelopes and required state and local election officials to supply voter information to an online portal. The administration argued these measures were necessary to combat electoral fraud, though no evidence of widespread fraud was presented. The executive order prompted legal challenges from 23 states and Washington DC, as well as opposition from postal workers’ unions who contended that staff could not be adequately trained before the election.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative appointee, agreed with blocking the implementation but suggested the litigation would likely continue. In his opinion, Kavanaugh stated there was “at least a fair prospect” that the postal service had statutory authority for such rules, but applying them so close to the election would be “arbitrary and capricious.” Two other conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, dissented and argued that the challenge represented a long-shot legal effort unlikely to ultimately succeed.
A federal judge in Boston had previously imposed an injunction on September 4, determining that implementing the measures near election day could prevent eligible voters from casting ballots. An appeals court subsequently refused to lift that order. The ruling represents another setback for the Trump administration on postal voting matters; in June, the Supreme Court had ruled that states could count ballots postmarked by election day, contradicting the administration’s position.
Approximately 30 percent of voters, predominantly Democrats, utilized mail-in ballots in the general election two years prior. Some states have already begun distributing mail-in ballots for the upcoming midterm elections.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI