US midterms open amid chaos over mail-voting crackdown

America’s midterm elections opened Friday in a fog of uncertainty over mail voting. Ballots have already started going out, even as President Donald Trump asks the courts to let him impose sweeping new restrictions on how they are handled.

North Carolina became the first state authorised to send ballots, formally beginning an election season that ends on Nov. 3. The vote will determine control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s term.

Yet voters and election officials still do not know which rules will govern millions of mail ballots. Trump has asked the Supreme Court to revive restrictions blocked by a federal judge, while states prepare for possible changes after voting has begun.

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We’re not playing an intellectual puzzle game. We’re talking about people’s right to vote.

The dispute has intensified because of whistleblower allegations that a new Postal Service verification system was rushed and inadequately tested. They warn that a single barcode problem could delay or disqualify entire batches of ballots. On Friday, a federal judge extended her temporary block on Trump’s plan after warning that hurried changes could cause widespread disruption.

“We’re not playing an intellectual puzzle game,” Judge Indira Talwani reportedly told a lawyer defending the restrictions. “We’re talking about people’s right to vote.” The Trump administration is expected to appeal her order to the Supreme Court.

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The states set the time, place and manner of elections in this country, not the president.

Trump’s March executive order would require states to provide the Postal Service with lists of eligible mail voters through a new federal portal. Ballot envelopes would also need individual barcodes and other design features, while the Postal Service would gain authority to reject mailings that fail to meet its requirements. The administration says the measures would protect election integrity, but it has produced no evidence of significant fraud through mail voting. Trump has repeatedly called the practice corrupt while using it himself, including in Florida’s Republican primary last month.

The uncertainty adds another layer to a voting system that already varies sharply by state. Some states automatically send ballots to registered voters, while others require voters to request them. Identification rules, return deadlines and policies for counting late-arriving ballots also differ.

“The states set the time, place and manner of elections in this country, not the president,” Marc Elias, founder of the voting rights platform Democracy Docket, said on his YouTube show. “In fact, the Congress can override the states in many instances, but in no instance can the president. The president is given no power over federal elections.” North Carolina officials said Friday’s mailings would proceed normally and that the state did not plan to use the federal portal at the center of the dispute.

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In fact, the Congress can override the states in many instances, but in no instance can the president. The president is given no power over federal elections.