Supreme Court still weighing judge’s earlier ruling
A federal judge in Boston has expanded a court-ordered block on a key part of President Trump’s executive order to limit voting by mail in this fall’s midterm election.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s ruling, released Tuesday, bans the U.S. Postal Service from trying to finish carrying out Trump’s directives in every state. In June, Talwani issued a ruling that blocked USPS efforts in only the 23 mainly Democratic-led states, plus Washington, D.C., that sued over the order.
The expansion came at the request of voting rights groups. Talwani found that the groups are likely to prove in their lawsuit that Trump’s order oversteps a president’s authority under the Constitution. Talwani, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, also found that the order is causing confusion among voters.
Under Trump’s order, USPS is supposed to compile lists of eligible voters from states and deliver absentee ballots only to people on those lists. The voting rights groups had urged Talwani to go further and prevent USPS from implementing the rule anywhere in the nation, requiring states to provide lists of voters and adopt new balloting procedures before the mail agency would make deliveries.
If states did not comply, USPS would have refused to deliver the ballots. The plaintiffs contended USPS would have no legal basis for such a refusal.
The president has defended the order as a way to stop illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens, a problem that many studies have concluded is extremely uncommon.
The wait continues for the Supreme Court to weigh in on Talwani’s earlier ruling, with November midterm elections that will decide control of Congress approaching.