All articles tagged with #mail in ballots
The Supreme Court narrowly allowed the Trump administration to proceed with its plan to tighten mail-in voting, but left the broader merits unsettled by sending the case back to lower courts; the ruling is procedural, with USPS rules still in flux and election deadlines looming before November.
The Supreme Court allowed President Trump’s executive order aimed at overhauling mail-in ballots to proceed, ruling that states lack standing to challenge an internal directive and saying it could cause irreparable harm to the administration, while leaving unresolved questions about the order’s authority and its impact on the upcoming elections; three liberal justices dissented, and related lower-court rulings still loom over the broader legal battle.
The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines, temporarily lifts an injunction to let parts of the Trump administration's 2026 mail‑in ballot executive order move forward in 23 states, focusing on whether the lower court acted prematurely rather than deciding the policy's legality; the ruling allows the USPS to implement some provisions even as other parts remain blocked and the broader challenges continue, leaving room for further judicial review.
USPS released a 95-page draft to curb mail-in ballots, requiring states to share voter records and redesign ballot envelopes with barcodes to track materials; the rules could take effect if a court injunction is lifted, but have been blocked by judges who say the policy oversteps into election administration—sparking claims of federal overreach and potential voter suppression. Supporters say the changes would improve efficiency and compliance with federal law, while critics note that election fraud is exceedingly rare and warn the move could undermine access to ballots ahead of the midterms.
The USPS issued a rule to require states to share lists of voters who received mail-in ballots, aligning with President Trump’s March executive order, but the rule cannot take effect while a federal court injunction blocks that order; it would only apply if the injunction is lifted for the upcoming midterms.
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow tighter nationwide mail-in voting rules, including a federal list of eligible voters and restricting ballot delivery to those on the list. Lower courts blocked parts of the plan as unconstitutional, while the DOJ argues pausing is indefensible; the Court requested responses from the challenging states by Aug. 3, underscoring a major election-law dispute ahead of the midterms.
A federal judge, Emmet Sullivan, blocked the Postal Service from implementing President Trump's executive order that would require states to provide absentee-voter lists before ballots are mailed; Sullivan ruled the proposed rule would violate a 2020 NAACP settlement governing Election Mail and could lead to non-delivery of ballots in states that don't certify a list, extending the block nationwide after earlier state-level injunctions.
A federal judge blocked the USPS from implementing President Donald Trump’s plan to limit mail-ballot delivery nationwide, ruling the proposed regulation violated a 2020 settlement and would expand federal oversight of elections.
The Supreme Court declined to hear Donald Trump's appeal of the civil verdict against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, leaving a $5 million civil judgment in place and noting Carroll's $83 million defamation award from a separate ruling. Trump blasted the decision on Truth Social and vowed to continue fighting as his lawyers pursue appeals. Separately, the Court issued a 5-4 ruling allowing late-arriving mail-in ballots to be counted, a decision Trump criticized as part of broader voting-law battles and related to efforts like the SAVE America Act.
House Speaker Mike Johnson fights to move Trump's signature election-security bill, clashing with hard-liners led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna; a plan to merge the SAVE America Act with the Pentagon policy bill faces resistance and may stall floor action, while Senate opposition blocks final passage, and a Supreme Court ruling allowing late-arriving mail ballots after Election Day heightens the political pressure around voting rules.
After the Supreme Court upheld counting late-arriving Mississippi mail-in ballots, Trump urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act to require nationwide voter ID and curb no-excuse mail voting. The bill, led in the House by Chip Roy and in the Senate by Rick Scott, is co-sponsored by Sen. Cassidy, who pushed back against the president’s critique as the effort faces mixed GOP support and potential clashes with a court ruling the bill could affect.
By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court allowed states to count mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day but arrived afterward, upholding Mississippi's grace period and delivering a political setback for Trump ahead of the midterms.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to uphold Mississippi's grace period allowing counted mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received within five business days, a decision that could affect similarly structured laws in other states and drew dissent from four justices and Trump’s criticism.
In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court held that Mississippi’s law allowing mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to five days later does not conflict with federal law, keeping similar late-count rules in place in about a dozen states ahead of the midterms; Justice Barrett wrote the opinion, marking a setback for Trump’s criticisms of mail-in voting.
At a Senate hearing, Postmaster General David Steiner said a proposed USPS rule would block mailing ballots to states that refuse to share absentee-voter lists with the federal government, requiring states to provide a Mail-In and Absentee Participation List with voter barcodes; Sen. Gary Peters pressed the plan, while Steiner defended it as necessary to match ballots with actual mail-outs, though critics warn it could nationalize elections.