The Trump administration has requested the Supreme Court to approve new restrictions on mail-in voting, right before mail ballots for the November midterm elections are issued.
This emergency request surfaces amidst ongoing legal disputes over President Donald Trump’s executive order in lower courts. The Supreme Court has previously permitted the plan to proceed during ongoing litigation. However, it has yet to determine the legality of the policy.
Trump’s executive order grants the U.S. Postal Service the authority to deny delivery of ballots from states that fail to provide lists of eligible voters or meet standardized envelope requirements.
The most recent Supreme Court filing follows a federal court hearing in Boston. During the hearing, a Justice Department attorney was questioned about the operational status of the system required to implement Trump’s order.
“I don’t even have a declaration from the Postal Service: ‘This is how it will work.’ I don’t have it. I have nothing,” said U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani pressed Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik for specifics on whether the Postal Service could execute the plan. This plan, introduced last spring, includes an online portal to track millions of mail ballots. States would need to upload lists of mail-in voters to the portal for their ballots to be delivered. Discrepancies between system information and ballot envelope data would result in non-delivery of ballots.
Talwani raised concerns about whether the government was testing the system’s effectiveness in the upcoming election.
This is an ongoing story. Updates will be provided as more details emerge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Gray R. Thomas.