Supreme Court rejects Trump’s third emergency mail-voting appeal
A whistleblower disclosed last week that the U.S. Postal Service was secretly implementing President Donald Trump’s blocked mail-in voting restrictions despite a court order, calling the ballot-checking system very flawed and warning it could disenfranchise large numbers of voters.
The disclosure surfaced the same week the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected for the third time Trump’s emergency application seeking to lift a lower-court injunction blocking the rules ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. In the most recent application, filed last week, Trump asked the court to allow the restrictions to take effect before the November 3 elections and to block a lower-court ruling that found the new rules most likely against the law.
In its brief ruling, the court said the administration is “unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court’s preliminary injunction.” The court split 7-2, with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting.
The blocked rules would have given the U.S. Postal Service new authority to withhold mail-in ballots. Under the proposed rules, states would have been required to submit lists of eligible voters to the agency, which would then have had to verify that ballots were being sent only to those on the lists before mailing them. The rules also mandated codes on ballot envelopes that can be scanned and linked to voter identities.
Voter advocates have said the changes could lead to mass disenfranchisement and chaos, especially with the midterms less than two months away.
Last week, a whistleblower said the USPS was secretly implementing the new policies despite the court order. They said the system for checking ballots was very flawed and could disenfranchise large numbers of voters.
Trump issued the underlying executive order in March, mandating the Postal Service changes.
The president has targeted mail-in voting for years, saying it leads to massive voter fraud despite no evidence of such. Trump has continued to vote by mail himself.
Monday’s order marked the third time the Supreme Court has turned back Trump’s emergency bid to lift the lower-court injunction on the mail-in voting restrictions.