US Justice Dept asks Supreme Court to restore Trump mail-in voting order

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to let federal officials move ahead with the President’s overhaul of mail-in voting ahead of the November midterm elections, after lower courts blocked implementation of the plan in nearly half the country.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an emergency request on July 27 asking the justices to intervene in the dispute immediately. A federal appeals court had ruled against the government at the weekend.

The administration is seeking to lift a Boston federal judge’s order that barred federal agencies from acting on key provisions of US President Donald Trump’s March executive order in jurisdictions that sued, including 23 states and the District of Columbia, in the months leading up to the November contest. 

The DOJ contends that the lower court’s order was premature because agencies are still “deliberating” over how to carry out Trump’s order.

US Solicitor-General D. John Sauer argued in his application to the justices that officials should be allowed to complete the rule-making process, with enough time left to carry out those plans before the midterms. 

“The district court has issued an extraordinary injunction barring federal agencies from implementing an executive order promoting election integrity,” Sauer wrote.

Spokespeople for the DOJ and the California attorney-general’s office, which is leading the coalition of states that sued, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Supreme Court requested a response by 4pm on Aug 3.

The judge in Boston concluded that key sections of Trump’s order were unlawful and found that the states that sued presented enough evidence that they were already being harmed. Her injunction was limited for now to the states that sued and applies only to the period before the midterms.

In a mixed decision at the weekend, a three-judge panel of the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the DOJ’s request to pause the injunction. 

Several other legal challenges are pending against the President’s directives, including a lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee and party leaders in Congress. 

Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a list of potentially eligible US citizen voters as guidance for states.

He also ordered the US Postal Service to revamp the design of election mail and to adopt rules requiring states to coordinate with the agency on its lists of residents poised to receive mail-in ballots.

The states argued that the provisions were unlawful and costly intrusions into their authority to manage elections. BLOOMBERG