The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump ‘s mail ballot restrictions for now, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action with voting in the midterm elections already underway.
The federal government won an early procedural decision at the Supreme Court, but the justices pointedly did not decide the legality of the plan. Democratic state officials and voting rights groups challenged the restrictions in court, arguing that the president has no constitutional authority to set election rules that would “virtually eliminate mail voting on the eve of a major election. Lower courts agreed and blocked Trump’s plan, including a preliminary injunction issued by a judge nominated by the president. But the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that federal control of the Postal Service allows them to set rules for mail ballot handling and that compliance was possible.
Because nearly one-third of the country votes by mail, the case has major implications.
The Trump administration had asked the court, once again at the center of a roiling political controversy, to clear the way for restrictions before the pivotal November contests for control of Congress.
