Supreme Court Lets Trump's Mail-Voting Order Proceed in 23 States, 6-3, Ten Weeks Before the Midterms

The Supreme Court on Aug. 24 paused a June injunction by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani that had barred the federal government from applying key parts of Trump's March mail-voting executive order in 23 states and D.C. before the November midterms. The unsigned 10-page opinion did not reach the order's legality. The majority held the states sued too early, reasoning that the directives to DHS to build state citizenship lists, to the attorney general to prioritize prosecutions, and to the Postal Service to propose a rule had not yet injured anyone. The three Democratic appointees dissented.

The ruling removes the main barrier to an order letting the Postal Service withhold ballots from voters missing from federal enrollment lists, weeks before absentee voting opens. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, wrote that the decision "merely postpones adjudication" and does not establish that the executive branch has authority to implement the directives. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that it "needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections."

A separate nationwide injunction issued Aug. 11 still bars the Postal Service from carrying out the order. The administration said Monday it would ask the First Circuit to pause it.