Supreme Court Leaves Ballot Rule Blocked for Now
The Supreme Court on Monday afternoon denied President Trump’s emergency request to restrict mail-in ballots ahead of the midterm elections. The application sought a stay of a lower court injunction blocking implementation of a rule connected to the Post Office’s mail-in ballot requirements. By denying the emergency request, the high court left the lower court’s order in place for now.
Kavanaugh Cites the Election Calendar
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson referred the emergency application to the Court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred with the decision to deny the request, saying state and local election officials did not have enough time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections. “For that reason, I concur in the denial of the application for stay,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Alito and Thomas Dissented
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas disagreed with the majority. Alito wrote that the Court had incorrectly denied the government’s request to stay a universal injunction blocking implementation of a final rule concerning election ballot mail. Thomas joined Alito’s dissent. The justices therefore disagreed over whether the rule should remain blocked while the legal fight continues.
The Dispute Centers on Postal Service Authority
The administration returned to the Supreme Court after U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction against President Trump’s executive order related to the Post Office’s mail-in ballot rules. Talwani, an Obama appointee, replaced a temporary restraining order she had issued the previous month. DOJ Solicitor John Sauer argued that the Postal Service has legal authority to regulate mail-in ballot designs. He described the rule as imposing only modest requirements involving envelope design and addressee information for federal-election ballots. Sauer also argued that the rule regulates the U.S. Mail, not the elections themselves, and that states cannot use federal mail for elections while claiming election-related mail is exempt from Postal Service rules.
Ballots Are Already Being Sent
Timing is a major part of the dispute. States are already preparing to send mail-in ballots for the midterm elections, and North Carolina sent out its mail-in ballots on Friday. On Sunday, Sauer made another appeal to the Supreme Court in a separate case, asking the justices to overturn Talwani’s preliminary injunction. Talwani has been assigned to two separate lawsuits involving President Trump’s mail-in ballot executive order.
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