Trump Administration Appeals the Order Blocking Its Mail-Ballot Rule a Week Before the First Midterm Ballots Go Out

The administration filed a notice of appeal Friday challenging U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani's decision blocking implementation of Trump's mail-voting executive order for two weeks. The order would let the Postal Service refuse to deliver ballots from states that do not submit lists of eligible voters and use a uniform envelope style. Talwani found that states lack the time and money to redesign ballots, update systems and train officials before the midterms. The first general-election mail ballots are scheduled to go out Sept. 4. The First Circuit will consider the appeal next.

The dispute is over who sets election rules: the plaintiffs argue the Constitution assigns that power to the states and, in some cases, Congress, rather than to the president or the Postal Service. Nearly a third of Americans vote by mail.

The White House calls the plan "commonsense measures" for ballot security and the blocking order "unreasoned and unlawful." The Supreme Court let the plan proceed earlier in the week on procedural grounds without ruling on its legality, and the case could return there. League of Women Voters chief executive Celina Stewart said voters' rights have not changed.