A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Postal Service rule that could impede millions of mail voters. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in.
Judge Indira Talwani said the Postal Service appeared to be trying a haphazard “experiment” with a new rule that could result in valid ballots being tossed.
The justices have been asked to weigh in again on the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict mail voting — this time on whether the plans violate the Constitution.
Administration lawyers asked the Supreme Court to clear the way for a new rule that prohibits the Postal Service from delivering ballots to voters in states that do not share voter data with the federal agency.
Judge Indira Talwani said the Postal Service appeared to be trying a haphazard “experiment” with a new rule that could result in valid ballots being tossed.
Election officials warn that the creation of a new online portal for states to upload voter information is already fueling confusion and could ultimately disenfranchise voters.
Gen. Dan Caine, President Trump’s top military adviser. appeared to renounce the possibility that the military would interfere with the vote in an Aug. 28 letter to Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
The Postal Service disputed allegations by the whistle-blower that the agency had violated several court orders that should have halted work on the plan.
A judge temporarily blocked the agency from implementing a strict new rule governing mail voting. The policy could disproportionately affect Democrats and many battleground elections.
The Postal Service appealed an emergency decision from Thursday that blocked it from changing its procedures for mail-in voting ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
After reviewing the agency’s final plan to comply with President Trump’s demands, a federal judge barred the Postal Service from imposing new restrictions on mail-in voting.
In a filing on Thursday, the Postal Service denied that its proposal left any room for it to second-guess states on which voters were eligible to cast a ballot.
The order came amid a spate of legal challenges, including one by Democratic state attorneys general, that could still result in the rules being blocked.
Under its new plan, the Postal Service would not deliver mail ballots in states that do not share voter data with the agency and would deliver only ballots that meet certain criteria.
A preliminary Supreme Court ruling could leave voters confused about casting ballots by mail, even as President Trump’s executive order is being litigated in the lower courts, experts said.
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