The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling along ideological lines on Monday gives preliminary approval for President Trump’s March order restricting mail voting.
The ruling may not lead to a single election procedure changing during the November midterms, but it’s thrown into uncertainty the method that nearly a third of the country uses to vote, says The Associated Press.
The court didn’t say Trump’s order is legal.
It said it was too early for Democratic-run states to challenge it in June, when they convinced a federal judge in Boston to freeze the order for November’s election. And that effectively restarts the legal fight over the order in a compressed timeline, with initial ballots scheduled to be sent to North Carolina’s overseas and military voters in just over a week, on Sept. 4, says AP.
A second injunction prohibiting the Postal Service from making changes to comply with Trump’s executive order continues to be in effect. But the administration filed a motion late Monday asking that the second hold be removed and has posted new regulations from the Postal Service that would go into effect Tuesday if the legal pathway is fully cleared.
That new rule requires specific formatting for envelopes containing mail ballots — which could force some jurisdictions to completely revise theirs — and makes states use an electronic system to identify to the Postal Service who is voting by mail, says AP.
If states don’t comply with the rule, their mail ballots won’t be sent.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote one dissent, joined by Justice Elena Kagan.
In a separate dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says that the decision “needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections.”
David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, agrees, saying the majority “seemed to create complete chaos leading up to the midterm elections” and it would be “impossible” for states to comply with the new rules at this late date.
Legal experts stress that it’s unlikely Trump’s order actually will be implemented because the Constitution grants control of voting rules to states, and in federal elections, to Congress, not the president.
Not only did the majority in the Supreme Court’s unsigned order note that it hasn’t determined whether the measure is constitutional, but every victory the administration has won so far has only been because it’s argued that it’s premature to talk about its constitutionality, AP says.
Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor says, “Both legal and practical reasons make this practically impossible to enforce,” referring to Trump’s mail voting order.
Law professor and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance notes: “Even if Donald Trump makes it impossible to vote by mail (which I don’t think will happen), he can’t make it impossible for us to vote. We can still vote in person.”
Also in the news
Attack by what Ukraine officials say was a Russian drone with Nvidia chip presages dystopian future of weaponry untethered to humans
Bessent announces new sanctions on Iran, warns nations doing business with it to sever financial ties or face U.S. retaliation
Canada to announce retaliatory tariffs against U.S. on Tuesday
How the U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed
Trump administration is working to ensure next U.N. secretary general is in sync with U.S. funding and reform goals
Trump administration plans to revoke visas of foreign citizens applying for asylum
DHS issues new proposed rule for H-1B visas that would charge a $103,265 fee
Trump’s latest construction project: Change the slope of White House South Lawn
Trump using $827,000 of his mostly untapped $400 million MAGA Inc. war chest to boost Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina runoff
How long-term policy ideas of Democratic Socialists of America can cause problems for candidates
Hakeem Jeffries defends meeting with Jared Kushner, pledging tough oversight of Trump
Heather Cox Richardson on U.S.-Canada trade, more
RFK Jr. is considering changes in the way vaccines are categorized; the public can comment until Sept. 20
You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
Senate Majority Leader John Thune