Judge Weighs Extending Block on Trump Ballot Rule

How the case got here

Per the AP: Talwani blocked the administration from implementing President Trump's mail-ballot executive order for the November election back in June, ruling the changes came too close to voting. The Supreme Court held late last month that her order was premature because the Postal Service had not yet published regulations spelling out how it would apply the order. The agency published them just before that ruling came down, and Democrats and voting-rights groups re-filed. They won the restraining order, which the administration has already appealed.

What the rule would require

The AP reports that before delivering mail ballots for any state, the Postal Service would have to approve the design of the envelopes and have the state upload a list of the voters receiving them to an online portal. The AP reports the portal was still not active this week, and that most election offices have already printed their envelopes and ballots.

Velchik told the court the federal government is offering states the choice to opt into the system, according to the AP — which adds that the Postal Service has yet to identify a single state that has done so.

A whistleblower report made public this week warns the requirements could stop millions of mail ballots from ever being sent: under the rule, as the AP describes it, ballots must be physically brought to post offices, and if a single barcode registers an error the entire batch is thrown out.

Plaintiffs argue the president has no authority to set election rules, a power the Constitution assigns to the states and in some cases Congress. The administration has contended the changes are relatively minor and legal.