Trump asks Supreme Court to allow mail-in voting restrictions ahead of midterms

The Trump administration has formally requested that the Supreme Court permit the implementation of an executive order designed to restrict mail-in voting ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections. This emergency appeal follows decisions by lower courts, including a federal judge in Massachusetts and a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which had blocked the order from taking effect in nearly half the country. The Justice Department is seeking to override these rulings and allow the changes to proceed while legal challenges continue.

The executive order, issued in March, aimed to dramatically alter mail-in voting procedures. It directed the creation of a "state citizenship list" of eligible voters by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration, and instructed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots exclusively to individuals on this federal list. President Trump promoted these proposed changes as safeguards against non-citizen voting, which is already a felony and has been shown to be rare.

Democratic officials from 23 states and the District of Columbia, along with voting rights organizations, have challenged the order, contending that the U.S. Constitution grants states and Congress, not the president, the authority to establish election rules. Critics argue that the proposed changes are susceptible to abuse and could cause significant disruption to the electoral process.