Supreme Court Allows Trump to Advance Mail Ballot Rules, California Vows to Sue
- The unsigned high court order applies to a March executive order from President Trump that directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of eligible citizen voters...
- District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston still blocks the Postal Service from implementing new mail-ballot procedures for the November 3 midterm elections, according to CNBC.
- The Court's disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful.
Supreme Court Decision and Lower Court Injunctions
The unsigned high court order applies to a March executive order from President Trump that directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of eligible citizen voters and instructed the U.S. Postal Service to restrict processing to mail ballots submitted by individuals on those lists, as reported by Yahoo News. The Supreme Court’s conservative justices noted that the directive itself does not force states to alter how they conduct elections, concluding that 23 states and Washington, D.C., challenged the order prematurely because final policies were not yet in place when the lawsuit was filed, according to CNBC.
District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston still blocks the Postal Service from implementing new mail-ballot procedures for the November 3 midterm elections, according to CNBC. The high court’s majority stressed that their ruling does not determine the ultimate legality of the administration’s pending rules.
The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful. On that score, time will tell.
U.S. Supreme Court
The court’s three liberal justices dissented from the decision in two separate opinions, according to Yahoo News.
California Reaction and Planned Legal Challenge
California leaders immediately criticized the ruling and announced plans for a new lawsuit to block the federal requirements from taking effect, according to Yahoo News.
“The Supreme Court just let the Trump administration move ahead (for now) with its plan to disenfranchise voters across the country. California will be suing AGAIN to block these Orwellian rules from being implemented,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement reported by Yahoo News.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta described the Supreme Court’s ruling as purely procedural and noted that it did not address the merits of the executive order, according to Yahoo News. Bonta stated that the Postal Service issued a 95-page final rule implementing parts of Trump’s executive order by introducing new designs for mail ballots and envelopes alongside federal data-collection procedures. Because that final rule is now established, Bonta’s office expects to file a fresh lawsuit within days to stop the changes before the November elections, according to Yahoo News.
White House Response
Lauren Bis, a White House spokeswoman, called the Supreme Court ruling a major win for election security in a statement to The Times, as reported by Yahoo News.
“These are commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders,” Bis said, according to Yahoo News. “This Administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on — which includes the safety and security of our elections.”