Trump administration appeals again to US Supreme Court over mail-in voting

How the nation’s highest could rules could have major implications in this year’s midterm elections.

California Department of Elections workers sort mail-in ballots in San Francisco [File: Jeff Chiu/AP Photo]

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has made another appeal to the Supreme Court to allow new restrictions on mail-in voting ahead of the midterms in November.

Two days after a federal judge blocked the US Postal Service (USPS) from enforcing Trump’s executive order, the administration on Sunday escalated the matter to the country’s highest court, asking justices to temporarily allow the agency to track mail-in ballots and decide whether they could be rejected. The ongoing legal battle comes even as some states have already begun sending out postal ballots.

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US District Judge Indira Talwani issued an order on Friday that said Trump’s directives, which would grant the federal government power over the handling of mail-in ballots, are likely unconstitutional. In the US, elections – including ones for federal office – are carried out by states.

The judge also criticised the timing of the executive order’s implementation, writing that, with just two months until election day, it “threatens disenfranchisement of millions of United States citizens who seek to vote by mail”.

But in its emergency filing on Sunday, the Trump administration countered Talwani’s ruling: “Contrary to the claims of the district court and respondents that the Postal Service is trying to federalise the rules for mail-in voting, the Postal Service’s final rule imposes only modest envelope-design and addressee-information requirements for federal-election ballots sent via U.S. Mail”.

US Solicitor General John Sauer, who argues cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the federal government, said Trump’s order would not seize control of states’ right to administer elections, but would only impose “reasonable preparation requirements” for mail-in ballots.

“[The rule] requires States to upload the name, address and barcode information of intended recipients of ballot mail in an online portal — information that election officials would necessarily already possess to send ballot mail under the Rule to those recipients,” Sauer wrote in the filing. “The Rule ensures that States remain responsible for determining voter eligibility and eligibility to vote by mail, and it does not dictate ballot content, mailing or receipt deadlines, or ballot-counting procedures.”

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson set a deadline of Wednesday for responses to the Trump administration’s request.

Sunday’s filing marks the third time the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to intervene. The court recently allowed the plan to move forward but did not rule on whether it was legal.

With control of the US Congress up for grabs in November, how the Supreme Court rules on the appeal could have major implications.

Despite voting by mail himself, Trump has long sought to limit it during his time in office, falsely claiming that it is ripe with fraud. Opponents say the president’s motivation is simpler, arguing that Democrats vote by mail more than Republicans.

An analysis conducted by the States United Democracy Center found that many voters, no matter their political affiliation, cast their ballots by mail. The research found that one in four registered Democrats and one in five registered Republicans voted by mail in the 2024 presidential election.

全国最高级别的规则可能会对今年的中期选举产生重大影响。

加州选举部门工作人员在旧金山分拣邮寄选票 [图片：Jeff Chiu/AP Photo]

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府再次向最高法院提出上诉，要求允许在11月中期选举前对邮寄投票施加新的限制。

在一名联邦法官阻止美国邮政署（USPS）执行特朗普的行政命令两天后，特朗普政府于周日将此事上诉至最高法院，要求大法官们暂时允许邮政署追踪邮寄选票，并决定是否可以拒绝这些选票。这场持续的法律战发生之际，一些州已经开始寄出邮寄选票。

美国法官再次阻止特朗普限制邮寄投票的企图（共3条，第1条）

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美国地区法官英迪拉·塔尔瓦尼周五发布命令称，特朗普赋予联邦政府处理邮寄选票权力的指令可能违宪。在美国，包括联邦选举在内的所有选举均由各州负责组织。

法官还批评了行政命令的实施时机，他写道，距离选举日仅剩两个月，该命令“威胁到数百万希望通过邮寄投票的美国公民的选举权”。

但在周日提交的紧急文件中，特朗普政府反驳了塔尔瓦尼的裁决：“与地区法院和被告的说法相反，邮政局试图将邮寄投票的规则联邦化，邮政局的最终规则仅对通过美国邮政寄送的联邦选举选票提出了适度的信封设计和收件人信息要求。”

代表联邦政府在最高法院出庭辩护的美国副检察长约翰·绍尔表示，特朗普的命令不会剥夺各州管理选举的权利，而只会对邮寄选票提出“合理的准备要求”。

绍尔在提交的文件中写道：“（该规则）要求各州将选票邮件收件人的姓名、地址和条形码信息上传至在线门户网站——而根据该规则，选举官员在向这些收件人发送选票邮件时，必然已经掌握了这些信息。该规则确保各州继续负责确定选民资格和邮寄投票资格，并且不规定选票内容、邮寄或接收截止日期，也不规定计票程序。”

最高法院大法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊设定了周三为回应特朗普政府请求的最后期限。

周日提交的这份文件是特朗普政府第三次请求最高法院介入。最高法院最近允许该计划继续推进，但并未就其合法性作出裁决。

由于美国国会的控制权将在 11 月进行争夺，最高法院对上诉的裁决可能会产生重大影响。

尽管特朗普本人也通过邮寄投票，但他在任期间一直试图限制邮寄投票，并错误地声称邮寄投票容易出现舞弊。反对者则认为总统的动机更为简单，他们认为民主党人比共和党人更倾向于邮寄投票。

美国联合民主中心的一项分析发现，许多选民，无论其政治倾向如何，都通过邮寄方式投票。研究发现，在2024年总统选举中，四分之一的注册民主党人和五分之一的注册共和党人通过邮寄方式投票。