A federal judge on Thursday issued an injunction blocking the administration from carrying out President Trump’s executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to refuse delivery of mail-in ballots of states that won’t verify their voters’ identities.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee and frequent stumbling block for Mr. Trump, said the president’s order was an unconstitutional wish list that he had no power to carry out.
Judge Talwani forbade the postal service from refusing to deliver ballots, and rejected the post office’s attempt to create a uniform national mail-in ballot.
And she said states cannot be forced to submit their voter lists to the government for citizenship identity checks — though she said they may choose to do that on their own.
“Accordingly, to the extent the EO attempts to intimidate local election officials to use the necessarily incomplete Confirmed Citizenship Lists as a resource, lest they face criminal prosecution, such efforts fall outside the Presidents’ Article II and otherwise-delegated authority,” Judge Talwani ruled.
The injunction is the latest in a chain of legal defeats for Mr. Trump as he seeks to impose his will on voting, and asserts his belief that cheating is rampant.
Another federal judge earlier this week ruled that the government cannot use the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system to run citizenship checks on voter lists.
And the Department of Justice’s attempt to force states to turn over their voting lists has been rejected by nine district courts and one circuit court. No court has yet to embrace the president’s position on that matter.
Mr. Trump’s executive order on mailed-in ballots, issued March 31, had called on the postal service and Homeland Security to police who is allowed to cast a vote through the mail.
States who allowed voting by mail were directed to submit lists of voters to Homeland Security, which would then supply a “confirmed citizen” list back to states. Anyone who doesn’t appear on that list is to be blocked from submitting a ballot through the mail.
Mr. Trump also ordered states to preserve election records for five years to allow the feds a chance to investigate any irregularities in mail voting.
Judge Talwani said all of that tramples on states, who under the Constitution are charged with administering elections, and Congress, which has primary power to control the postal service.
Her ruling applied to the federal election in November and any federal elections between now and then.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, called the decision “a very significant victory for free and fair elections.”
“Trump’s vendetta against mail-in voting — which is safe and secure — is about picking who can vote and avoiding accountability,” he said.
The postal service had published regulations to carry out the president’s order, including using a specific bar code to denote mailed ballots.
The public comment period on the regular was supposed to run into next week.
Postmaster General David Steiner told Congress this week that he would refuse to deliver ballots of states that didn’t provide an approved voter list.
The lawsuit challenging Mr. Trump’s order had been brought by more than 20 Democrat-led states.
Other challenges are pending in other federal courts.
Mr. Trump has argued that the expansion of mail-in voting opens the door for fraud, with live ballots sent to homes where voters may no longer live. He also argues it’s more difficult to verify identity for voters who use mailed ballots.
Backers, though, say it makes voting more accessible, particularly for those who cannot take time off to vote in person.
Counting mailed ballots has created new problems for elections officials, who have had to set timelines on when ballots can be received. Some states allow ballots to be counted for days or even weeks after Election Day, as long as there’s evidence they were cast on or before the day.
Supreme Court justices are deciding a case dealing with mailed-ballot deadlines. A ruling is expected next week.
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