Trump Returns to Supreme Court in Fight Over Mail-Voting Rules

Donald Trump’s administration has returned to the Supreme Court in an effort to implement disputed new restrictions on mail voting. It filed an emergency request seeking to suspend a lower-court decision that currently prevents the rules from taking effect.

The administration is pressing for a rapid ruling less than two months before the midterm elections. North Carolina is due to send out its first mail-voting materials on Friday, adding urgency to the legal dispute.

The Supreme Court ruled in Trump’s favor once in August, lifting an order from a federal court that had blocked his mail-voting plans. That decision rested on procedural grounds, however, and did not determine whether the proposal itself was lawful. Last week, a federal judge again halted implementation of Trump’s executive order for 14 days, prompting the administration’s latest challenge.

Under Trump’s plan, the U.S. Postal Service would play a central role in checking mail-voting eligibility. It would send ballots only to people listed as verified U.S. citizens on voter rolls compiled with the involvement of immigration and Social Security authorities. States would also have to submit the design of their mail-ballot envelopes to the Postal Service for approval.

Republicans defend the measures as a way to prevent alleged election fraud. Critics suspect the goal is to make mail voting more difficult and disadvantage Democrats, whose voters use mail ballots at disproportionately high rates. The midterm elections on Nov. 3 will decide roughly one-third of the Senate and all seats in the House of Representatives. With Republicans holding narrow majorities in both chambers, individual races could determine control of Congress.