The US Department of Justice asked the US supreme court on Wednesday to pause a new ruling that blocks nationwide enforcement of Donald Trump’s postal voting restrictions, pushing the fight over the president’s mail-ballot order back to the justices. The request targets a Tuesday decision by US district judge Indira Talwani in Boston that stopped the US Postal Service from carrying out the tighter rules nationwide.
The move matters now because Trump’s order was signed in March and is aimed at how ballots are handled before the November midterm elections. It would require the US Postal Service to deliver ballots only to voters on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list, while also directing the Department of Homeland Security to compile citizenship lists for the states and telling the Justice Department to prioritize election officials who issue ballots to people deemed not eligible to vote in federal elections.
Talwani’s Tuesday order did not start from zero. It built on a June ruling that already blocked enforcement in 23 mostly Democratic-governed states and Washington, DC. In seeking emergency action, the Justice Department wants the supreme court not only to lift the older pause, but to make clear that any relief also reaches the newer ruling. That is the practical question in the case: whether the administration can put the order into effect nationwide now, or whether the block stays in place while the lawsuits continue.
The administration says the cases are premature because no federal agency has yet taken concrete action against the plaintiffs. Talwani reached the opposite conclusion, writing that the executive branch has no authority to regulate elections and that the US constitution gives that power to individual states. The voting rights groups behind the challenge, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, are pressing the court to keep the order on ice as the Postal Service has recently moved to implement Trump’s directive.
That leaves the justices with a straightforward choice and a fast-moving clock. If they act, they can either let the tighter mail voting rules take hold while the broader dispute plays out or keep the lower court block intact for now. If they do not, Talwani’s ruling remains the barrier to nationwide enforcement, and the president’s order stays on hold before the November midterm elections.
