Trump Lobbies Supreme Court To Dramatically Change Mail-In Voting Ahead Of Midterm Elections

Donald Trump is lobbying the Supreme Court to change how mail-in voting works. This request comes just months before the midterm elections take place.

A new Supreme Court filing hit at the start of this week. Lower courts already blocked this effort. Trump’s administration would have the ability to deputize the United States Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security to screen state voter rolls.

The filing argues that the information collection would serve to identify possible non-citizen voters. Voting rights advocates worry that the information could be used for other purposes.  The original ruling in this matter from District Judge Indira Talwani argued that “The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections.”

She explained, “Broadly, the Constitution vests the President with ‘executive Power’ and commands him to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.’ The President ‘plays no direct role in the process’ of appointing electors, ‘nor does he have authority to control the state officials who do.’” 

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Change Mail-In Voting

Specifics on the mail-in voting executive order are wider ranging. This is more power than most presidents have exerted during their time in office. March’s iteration had the voter rolls being tendered to the Postal Service. 

But, also the order would implement barcode tracking on individualized ballot envelopes. In addition to all that, the federal government would prioritize prosecution of election officials in states who receive ballots from non-citizens or people ineligible to cast a vote. 

One of the direct asks from the Trump administration is for an immediate administrative order to pause the lower court’s decision. This would open up a sizable legal grey area headed into a contentious midterm environment in the United States.

US Solicitor General D. John Sauer made his case to the Supreme Court in the appeal. “The executive order is an intra-branch directive from the president to his subordinates — which, of its own force, does not change anything at all about elections in any state,” Sauer explained. “It does not require the states to do (or refrain from doing) anything at all.” 

The Midterms Are Inching Closer

All eyes are on what the Supreme Court will do with this appeal. A pause on the lower court’s decision would have immediate repercussions. The individual states would likely make their own decisions on whether or not to enforce this.

“Election integrity has always been a top priority for President Trump, and the American people sent him back to the White House because they overwhelmingly supported his commonsense election integrity agenda,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson previously told CNN. “The President will do everything in his power to defend the safety and security of American elections and to ensure that only American citizens are voting in them.”

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