The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow the U.S. Postal Service to enforce new mail ballot rules for the November midterms, just days before some states begin sending out ballots.
The Justice Department petitioned the high court to lift a lower court’s temporary order blocking key parts of the Postal Service’s rule, which was enacted as part of a crackdown by the administration on mail-in ballots.
“The district court’s continued prejudgment of the rule is baseless, and an immediate stay is warranted,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote.
The high court previously reversed U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s pause of the president’s executive order, but she quickly issued a more narrow order blocking the Postal Service’s new mail-voting requirements.
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That policy requires local election officials to use only federally approved ballot envelopes. It also mandates officials to upload voters’ names, addresses and ballot barcodes to a Postal Service portal. Under the rule, mailed ballots that do not meet those standards could be returned to election officials.
Talwani, an Obama appointee in Massachusetts, found last week that the states challenging the new rules were likely to show that the Postal Service exceeded its authority.
She said imposing the administration’s requirements weeks before ballots are mailed could prevent eligible voters from receiving them. Her order blocking those rules is limited to a 14-day period expiring Sept. 10, but could be extended, according to the petition.
The judge heard arguments Thursday in the case on whether to block the Postal Service’s plan indefinitely but hasn’t finalized a ruling.
Sauer protested the timing of Talwani’s original order, which came only two months before the midterm elections. North Carolina is scheduled to begin mailing ballots Friday and Alabama will follow soon after, he noted.
The administration argues that failing to implement the Postal Service’s plan would allow a “particularly pernicious species of fraud that dilutes the votes of lawful voters,” and undermines public confidence in the electoral process.
“The order risks sowing confusion and chaos,” Sauer wrote.
The legal saga kicked off in March, when Trump ordered the Postal Service to implement the new ballot standard. The president has long asserted that vote-by-mail policies propel widespread voter fraud, but has provided little credible evidence to substantiate the claim.
The Supreme Court has not ruled on the new request.
This story has been updated with further information.
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