Anna Hartz
Mail-in voting has become a major political issue in the United States, especially as the midterm elections approach.
Changes to the system could affect millions of voters, and a new Supreme Court decision has opened the door for President Donald Trump’s administration to move forward with restrictions.
States not following the order would not receive ballots
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states challenging Trump’s executive order did not have the legal standing to bring their case, reports AP. The justices did not decide whether the order itself is legal.
That means the administration may now begin putting parts of the order into effect. However, further court challenges could still stop or delay the changes.
Time is becoming a major concern. North Carolina plans to send ballots to military and overseas voters on September 4. Other states will begin sending ballots soon after.
Trump signed the executive order in March. It calls for the administration to create lists of eligible voters and directs the U.S. Postal Service to send mail ballots only to people included on those lists.
New rules released Friday would also prevent the Postal Service from sending ballots from states that do not follow the order.
Too close to the election
Democratic officials in 23 states and Washington, DC, challenged the plan. They argued that states and Congress have constitutional authority over elections and warned that changing the rules so close to the midterm elections could cause confusion.
A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the plan in those states. An appeals court supported that decision. The judge later issued another order blocking the policy nationwide.
The Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court in July. It argued that the states had challenged the order too early.
The Supreme Court’s decision now gives the administration more room to act, but it does not settle the wider legal fight.
Three liberal justices disagreed with the ruling. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that the decision could create further problems for those challenging election policies.
Trump has repeatedly attacked mail-in voting, claiming without credible evidence that it leads to fraud. Mail voting has become increasingly common, however. About 30 percent of ballots in the 2024 presidential election were cast by mail.
Research has also found that fraud involving mail ballots is extremely rare.
The latest ruling could therefore leave voters and election officials facing uncertainty just weeks before the midterm elections. More court battles are likely, and the final rules may not be clear until voting is already underway.
