As the country moves toward a midterm election, the Trump administration has asked the nation's highest court to let a Postal Service rule governing mail ballots take effect, after a federal judge in Boston extended her block on it. The dispute reaches into a long-running argument about how Americans should cast their votes, and about who gets to shape the machinery that delivers them. Because most states already rely on mail voting in some form, the answer will touch voters well beyond the courtroom, and the justices now hold the decision before ballots reach the mailboxes.
Trump administration renews Supreme Court bid to limit mail-in voting ahead of November midterms
Every day the injunction stays, the administration says, risks chaos
Mark
So what exactly is the administration asking the Supreme Court to do?
Mimi
Let the Postal Service enforce its new mail-ballot rule right away, even though Judge Talwani has blocked it. Solicitor General John Sauer filed the emergency application on Sunday.
Mark
What does the rule actually require?
Mimi
States must hand the USPS lists of who is receiving mail ballots, and every outgoing and return envelope needs a unique barcode. The Postal Service could refuse ballots that don't comply or that belong to voters not on the lists.
Luke
Worth noting that the "confusion and chaos" line is Sauer's argument, not a finding. The reporting doesn't say what the judge concluded about that claim.
Mimi
Fair. We only know she extended the ban on Friday. Her reasoning isn't in what we have.
Mark
Why does timing matter so much here?
Mimi
Ballots are already going out. North Carolina mailed the first ones on Friday, and all states allow some mail voting. Twenty-nine don't require an excuse and eight vote entirely by mail.
Luke
And what happens to ballots already mailed if the rule takes effect? The reporting doesn't say, so that's an open question.
Mimi
Right. Nor does it say how states would meet the list and barcode requirements in time.
Mark
What comes next?
Mimi
Justice Jackson set Wednesday for responses. After that, the court's ruling will likely decide it.
Luke
Likely, not certain. We don't know when the justices will rule or which way.
Der Puls
- A federal judge in Boston extended her block on a Postal Service mail-ballot rule just as states begin sending out ballots for November.
- The administration responded within two days with an emergency appeal, warning that each day of delay breeds confusion and chaos.
- The rule would require state voter lists and unique barcodes on every envelope, and let the Postal Service refuse noncompliant ballots.
- Responses to the Supreme Court are due Wednesday, and a ruling is expected to settle whether the rule applies before Election Day.
As the country moves toward a midterm election, the Trump administration has asked the nation's highest court to let a Postal Service rule governing mail ballots take effect, after a federal judge in Boston extended her block on it. The dispute reaches into a long-running argument about how Americans should cast their votes, and about who gets to shape the machinery that delivers them. Because most states already rely on mail voting in some form, the answer will touch voters well beyond the courtroom, and the justices now hold the decision before ballots reach the mailboxes.
On Sunday, lawyers for the Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court with an emergency request. They want the justices to let the US Postal Service enforce a new mail-ballot rule before the November 3 midterms. The filing followed a Friday decision by Judge Indira Talwani of the federal court in Boston, who extended the ban that keeps the rule from taking effect. The administration had already asked the Supreme Court to overturn her earlier, shorter injunction, and her extension prompted the new filing.
Solicitor General John Sauer argued that every day the injunction remains in place risks sowing confusion as more states mail out ballots. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has set Wednesday as the deadline for responses.
The rule carries out an executive order President Trump signed in March. It requires states to give the Postal Service lists of voters receiving mail ballots, and it mandates a unique barcode on every ballot envelope. It also allows the Postal Service to refuse delivery of ballots that fail these standards or that belong to voters missing from state lists.
The stakes are national, since every state allows some form of mail voting. North Carolina began mailing ballots on Friday, the same day the extension was issued. With the injunction in place, the final word now rests with the Supreme Court, and its ruling will likely arrive before voters cast their ballots.
On Sunday, lawyers for the Trump administration went back to the US Supreme Court with an emergency application, asking the justices to let the US Postal Service put a new mail-ballot rule into effect before the November 3 midterm elections. The filing came two days after a federal judge in Boston extended her block on the rule.
The judge is Indira Talwani, of the US District Court. On Friday she lengthened a ban that keeps the rule from taking effect. The administration had already filed an earlier emergency request asking the Supreme Court to overturn her shorter-term injunction. That request had not been decided when she extended the ban, and the extension prompted Sunday's new filing.
Solicitor General John Sauer, who represents the administration, urged the court to let the rule take effect immediately. He argued that every day the lower court's injunction stays in place "risks sowing confusion and chaos" as more states send out mail ballots. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has set a Wednesday deadline for responses to the request.
The Postal Service issued the rule to carry out an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March. Its terms are specific. States must give the USPS lists of the people who are to receive mail ballots, and every outbound and return ballot envelope must carry a unique barcode. The rule also lets the Postal Service refuse to deliver ballots that fail the new standards, or that are tied to voters who do not appear on the state lists.
Trump has spent years calling for limits on voting by mail. He has done so while making false claims that his 2020 election defeat resulted from widespread voter fraud.
The stakes reach across the country, because every US state allows some form of mail-in voting. Twenty-nine states let voters request a mail ballot without giving a reason, and eight conduct their elections entirely by mail. The timing is also pressing: North Carolina became the first state to mail out ballots for the November elections, on Friday, the same day Talwani extended her order.
With the lower court's injunction in place and the administration's appeals before the justices, the final decision on whether the restrictions can proceed likely rests with the Supreme Court. Responses are due Wednesday, and a ruling after that will probably settle the rule's fate before voters cast their ballots.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Each day the injunction remains in place risks sowing confusion and chaos as more states issue mail ballots.— Solicitor General John Sauer, in the emergency application
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