The Supreme Court ruled Monday to block President Donald Trump’s restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of November’s midterm elections.
In a 7-2 ruling, the court rejected an emergency application filed by the Trump administration seeking to lift a lower court’s injunction that blocked a new Postal Service rule on mail ballots. The Supreme Court found the administration was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its case, though the underlying legal question of whether the Postal Service has authority to enforce Trump’s restrictions remains unresolved.
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas were the dissenting voices. Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred with the majority but wrote separately, suggesting the rule might ultimately fall within the Postal Service’s authority but noted that he felt there wasn’t enough time to implement it before the midterms.
Trump has long claimed that widespread fraud involving mail-in voting contributed to his 2020 defeat by President Joe Biden. No evidence has ever substantiated the claim, and the president himself has voted by mail twice in Florida this year.
Critics of the administration’s push for restrictions say the timing of the changes would disrupt voting procedures close to the election. The administration has defended the restrictions as necessary to protect election integrity.
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