Judge Expands Block on Trump Mail-In Voting Order

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston expanded an injunction blocking part of President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at tightening mail-in voting rules ahead of November midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.

The ruling effectively expands on an earlier order she had issued in June, which prevented the administration from implementing the restrictions in 23 mostly Democratic-led states and Washington D.C. The judge found that voting rights groups were likely to succeed in their lawsuit arguing that Trump's executive order overstepped presidential authority under the Constitution.

The executive order called on states to provide lists of eligible voters who may receive mail ballots. If states did not comply, USPS would have refused to deliver the ballots. The plaintiffs contended that USPS had no legal basis for such a refusal. Talwani wrote that the executive branch has no authority to regulate elections, which is assigned to individual states by the U.S. Constitution.

The judge's ruling comes as the wait continues for the Supreme Court to weigh in on an earlier ruling by Talwani. The president has defended this order as a way to stop illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens, a problem that many studies have concluded is extremely uncommon. Neither the White House nor the Justice Department immediately responded to requests for comment.

The Trump administration requested that the Supreme Court halt lower court decisions that have blocked sweeping changes in nearly half the country. The latest ruling creates another legal hurdle for the Trump administration should it get the initial injunction lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court. Plaintiffs argued in two lawsuits, both filed in federal court in Boston, that the Republican president’s order should be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules.

The expanded order blocks USPS from implementing Section 3 of the order for this year's elections and any earlier federal elections. Section 3 says that USPS is 'directed to initiate a proposed rulemaking ... and other applicable authority within 60 days of the date of this order.' Talwani said the plaintiffs, which are voting rights groups, are likely to succeed in the case. She also found that the order is causing confusion among voters.

'Throughout the multiple actions before district courts, courts of appeal and the Supreme Court of the United States, the federal government has declined to defend the constitutionality of the EO's directives,' Talwani wrote.