A group of states told the Supreme Court on Monday there would be “extraordinary consequences” if the Trump administration is allowed to move forward with an overhaul of mail-in voting rules so close to the midterm election.
The filing responded to a Trump administration request that the justices allow federal agencies to implement two parts of an executive order that directed the U.S. Postal Service to create mail ballot rules and the Department of Homeland Security to compile a national database of eligible voters.
A lower court order has blocked those parts of the order in nearly half of all states and the District of Columbia.
Those states told the Supreme Court there would be a limited window to correct errors, which could disenfranchise the voters that rely on mail-in voting, such as older Americans and people with disabilities. Other voters would be confused about getting their ballots or whether the USPS would deliver them.
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“State and local elections administrators would be forced to divert time and resources away from critical election-preparation tasks,” the states said.
Attorneys for the administration have argued that an injunction against the policies is “premature” because the agencies have not yet implemented the executive order. The states argued that it would “not be sensible” to force states to wait to sue to stop the policies they call “plainly unlawful.”
“It would be extremely difficult — if not impossible — to obtain a definitive judicial resolution with enough time remaining for States to redesign and reorder their ballot mail, train elections officials, and adequately educate the public before the November midterms,” the filing states.
The ongoing court battle stems from a March executive order that would require the Social Security Administration and DHS to create a list of eligible voters for the Postal Service to send ballots to.
The Trump administration is seeking to lift an injunction in a Massachusetts lawsuit, which was brought by 23 states and D.C. In another case brought by Democrats in D.C, an appeals court determined that the legal challenge was premature. The decision upheld a prior D.C. ruling from District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, who also said the policies need to be implemented before they can be blocked.
Democrats argued in Monday’s response to the Supreme Court that although the courts consider their arguments to be “unripe,” the administration has clear plans and dates to implement these changes as soon as possible under the looming deadline of Nov. 3.
And the USPS is already moving forward with rulemaking. The Federal Register shows that the agency submitted a rule with changes that comply with the president’s executive order, on the contingency that it succeeds in the courts.
“The proposal to amend the [Domestic Mail Manual] is the subject of active litigation, including two injunctions that are currently being appealed. The Postal Service will not publish a final rule unless and until the government obtains relief from all relevant injunctions,” the rule says.
With the midterms now 92 days away, President Donald Trump continues to push last-ditch efforts to oversee elections and message to voters that noncitizen voting is rampant, despite reports that it occurs rarely.
Several issues would need to be reconciled if the Supreme Court allows the administration to change mail-in voting rules, including how the USPS would screen eligible voters under such a tight deadline. The USPS is already hearing complaints from election officials about delays for mail-in ballots.
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