DOJ asks Supreme Court to revive Trump mail-in voting curbs
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- Justice Department filed an emergency request at the Supreme Court on Monday to pause a lower court ruling blocking parts of Trump's March executive order on mail-in voting, targeting 23 Democratic-led states and Washington, DC.
- US District Judge Indira Talwani ruled in June that Trump lacked constitutional authority to unilaterally change how states administer federal elections, a finding the First Circuit Court of Appeals refused to pause over the weekend, prompting the DOJ escalation.
- The executive order directed federal agencies to build state voter-eligibility lists, required USPS to deliver mail ballots only to people on those lists, and instructed DOJ to prioritize investigations into election officials who issued ballots to ineligible voters.
- Solicitor General John Sauer argued the order is "general policy guidance" rather than a binding directive, and pressed the Court to move quickly, noting the policy must be in place by August to take effect before November's midterm elections.
- Trump has claimed without evidence that mail-in voting fraud cost him the 2020 election and promised to end its widespread use before the midterms, which will determine control of the House and Senate.
- Voting rights advocates say the restrictions would disproportionately affect Democratic voters, who have historically been more likely than Republicans to cast ballots by mail.
Why it matters: With midterms eight months away and implementation needing to be locked in by August, the Court now faces a compressed timeline to decide whether the executive branch can unilaterally reshape how states run federal elections — a constitutional question the lower courts have already twice ruled against the administration.
