Coalition Of Democratic States File Lawsuit Against Trump’s Mail-In Voting EO

Several Democratic states have filed a lawsuit against an executive order issued by the Trump administration only days after the Supreme Court struck down a lower-court block on the order. 

AP reports that the lawsuit is focused on a rule unveiled by the United States Postal Service last week. The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of 24 Democratic states on Wednesday. The rule requires states to redesign mail-in ballots to have trackable barcodes and requires state election officials to submit the names and addresses of everyone set to receive a mail-in ballot to an online portal.

According to CBS News, the portal will create a “Mail-In and Absentee Participation List,” which the Postal Service said is “primarily intended to assist election officials and law enforcement to understand who may have been mailed a ballot, to identify potentially anomalous incidents that may merit further investigation.”

The rule was implemented as a result of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump earlier this year intended to place limitations on mail-in voting. It’s unclear what, if any, impact the rule can meaningfully have on the upcoming midterms, as mail-in ballots are required to be sent out to overseas voters by Sep. 4. That’s just over a week away, which is not nearly enough time for any state to properly implement these changes. Nothing says the Trump administration values free and fair elections like creating chaos only weeks before mail-in ballots are supposed to be distributed. 

The executive order has been subject to several lawsuits in recent months. The judges in most of those lawsuits have ruled because the Constitution famously places control of elections with the states and Congress, with the executive branch having very limited influence. 

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court struck down a prior ruling that placed a block on the order because it found that the Democratic states filed their lawsuit before the rule could be implemented. The Court notably didn’t rule on the legality of the executive order or the proposed rule. 

“Across the country, states are already deep into preparations for the 2026 elections. Now, at the last moment, the federal government is attempting to meddle in those preparations and potentially threaten countless Americans’ right to vote,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the attorneys general filing the lawsuit, said in a statement. “USPS has no authority to decide who can and cannot vote by mail.”

I just kind of thought it was obvious that the damn post office has no jurisdiction over elections. As someone who’s voted by mail for the last decade, I think many of these changes are unnecessary. In Maricopa County, they send you texts to let you know when your ballot is out for delivery, when it’s been delivered, and when it’s been received. I’ve never worried about my ballot being tampered with, and data has shown that election fraud is incredibly rare. 

I’ve said it before, and I will continue to say it: this is not about election security; it’s about giving Trump and the Republican Party the ability to decide who does and doesn’t get to vote. 

SEE ALSO:

Supreme Court Strikes Down Block On Trump’s Mail-In Voting EO [Op-Ed]

Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Mail-In Voting Exective Order

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