The Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Todd Blanche, is set to combat legal challenges against Trump-backed mail-in voting restrictions. These challenges come from California Governor Gavin Newsom following a 6-3 Supreme Court win. Blanche expressed the DOJ’s readiness to uphold election integrity and secure the voting process as midterm elections approach.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, along with attorneys general from 23 states and Washington, D.C., is suing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) over the Trump administration’s mail-in ballot rule. This rule introduces new federal requirements on how states manage mail ballots. Shapiro emphasized his commitment to fighting what he sees as an unconstitutional attempt to alter mail-in voting.
Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro stated, ‘I’m suing the Trump Administration to stop their unconstitutional attempt to change the rules and restrict mail-in voting. I’ll remind the President of my track record going up against him in court—and winning—to protect Pennsylvania’s free, fair, safe, and secure elections. I’m prepared to do so again.’
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling has put a temporary hold on a previous injunction against Trump’s mail-voting executive order. The ruling was seen by the Trump administration as a significant victory for American election security. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis expressed the administration’s commitment to ensuring election safety and security.
The USPS’s newly finalized rule, ‘Ballot Mail for Federal Elections,’ was enacted last week. This rule mandates state and local officials to provide information on mail-in ballot recipients to a USPS portal for compiling lists of enrolled mail voters. It also introduces design requirements, such as trackable barcodes and pre-approval for ballot-envelope designs.
States have filed a complaint challenging the rule, arguing it improperly involves USPS in election processes. This complaint contends that only Congress should have the authority to change election rules and criticizes USPS for bypassing necessary review processes for such significant changes.
The coalition asks the court to suspend the rule during the lawsuit and to dismiss it afterward. They claim their new legal challenge addresses the Supreme Court’s concerns about timing. A Massachusetts judge previously stopped USPS from enforcing the requirements for the midterms, but lifted the order following the Court’s decision.
According to the states’ complaint: ‘This Court held that no law enacted by Congress delegates authority to control mail-in voting to USPS, and that the President’s directives to USPS were ultra vires.’ The Supreme Court initially stayed the injunction, not due to a lack of merit in the states’ claims, but because they lacked standing.
USPS published its final rule soon after the Court’s decision, stating that should the rule harm states, new challenges can arise. USPS did not respond to comments in time for publication.