The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Monday, asking the justices to allow an executive order targeting mail-in voting procedures to take effect ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections.
The filing asks the high court to lift a lower court order that currently blocks the proposed changes in nearly half the country while ongoing lawsuits move through the legal system.
The legal battle stems from an executive order President Donald Trump issued in March. The order instructs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to collaborate on creating a national “state citizenship list” of eligible voters. Under the directive, the U.S. Postal Service would be required to deliver mail-in ballots only to individuals whose names appear on that compiled list.
President Trump has presented the policy as a necessary measure to protect election integrity. Noncitizen voting is illegal under federal law, carries penalties including felony charges and deportation, and research shows the occurrence is rare.
Democratic officials representing 23 states and the District of Columbia challenged the directive in federal court, arguing that the order violates the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs state that constitutional authority to set election rules and procedures belongs to individual states and Congress, rather than the executive branch. Legal representatives for the states further argued that implementing the mandate so close to an election would create administrative chaos and open the door for potential system abuse.
A federal district judge in Massachusetts initially granted a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from enforcing the order within the participating plaintiff jurisdictions. On July 26, a three-judge panel for the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that injunction, keeping the order on hold.
With the July 26 ruling keeping the hold in place, the Justice Department petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene on an emergency basis, seeking authorization to implement the list and postal directives nationwide as the broader constitutional challenge plays out.
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