The Trump administration’s latest appeal to the US Supreme Court over mail-in ballots could inject further uncertainty into November’s midterm elections, election administration expert David Becker has warned.
The Justice Department asked the court on Thursday, September 3, to lift a federal judge’s order blocking new Postal Service rules that would impose additional requirements on states using the mail to distribute ballots.
The appeal came as North Carolina prepared to send out mail ballots on Friday, with other states due to follow throughout September. The elections on November 3 will determine control of Congress for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term.
Under the disputed rules, states would have to meet federal design requirements for ballot envelopes, including the use of unique barcodes, and upload information about voters to a new US Postal Service online portal.
Ballot mailings that failed to comply could be rejected and returned to election offices. The administration has described the measures as modest safeguards, while state officials and voting groups say they are being introduced too close to polling day and could prevent eligible voters from casting ballots.
The Supreme Court previously allowed parts of Mr Trump’s plan to proceed while the legal challenge continued. Its August decision was procedural and did not rule on whether the president had the authority to impose the restrictions.
Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research and a former Department of Justice lawyer, said the deadline for making major changes to this year’s election process had “long since passed”.
He said the fact that ballots were already beginning to be sent to voters only reinforced that concern. The new rules could require election offices to alter envelopes, share voter data and adapt to a portal that the Postal Service was still refining.
A federal judge in Massachusetts has said the changes could create a substantial risk of disenfranchisement and stressed the public need for clear and settled rules ahead of the November 3 election.
The Supreme Court appeal is expected to prolong the legal uncertainty as election officials begin the practical work of administering the midterms, in which mail voting is used by roughly one-third of American voters.
