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The Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court again on Sunday morning to pause a ruling that currently blocks the president’s policy that USPS only deliver absentee ballots to verified voters. It’s Donald Trump’s third time – the second time in a week – to seek relief from US District Judge Indira Talwani’s campaign against his US Postal Service policy. But the clock is running out. Mail-in voting has already begun in North Carolina, where ballots were sent out Friday.
Mail-In Voting on the Clock
As Liberty Nation News recently reported, Judge Indira Talwani, the Boston-based judge appointed to the District of Massachusetts by Barack Obama, has issued multiple orders and gone back and forth with the US Supreme Court in her attempts to derail President Trump’s plans for the postal service this election season.
The president signed his executive order in March, directing the USPS and DHS to impose strict requirements on states to have mail-in ballots delivered, including submitting a list of qualified voters to the postal service. In June, Judge Talwani issued a preliminary injunction blocking the order. Toward the end of July, the Trump administration appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Then, when the appeals court denied the request a couple of days later, the Trump administration directly petitioned the Supreme Court.
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The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump’s favor on August 24, arguing that Talwani’s injunction was premature because the postal service hadn’t finalized its rule yet. However, on August 27, USPS posted its final rule. Hours later that very day, Judge Talwani issued a 14-day temporary restraining order to pause it.
Thursday, September 3, the Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court for an emergency stay. A day later, before the high Court could act on the first petition, Talwani formally replaced her own TRO by granting an indefinite injunction. Since this new order resolved the TRO, the petition before the Supreme Court to block it was moot. So on Sunday, September 6, the administration withdrew its Thursday petition and filed a new emergency appeal.
That’s where it stands as of now, and the Supreme Court has instructed the states to file their responses by 10 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday. A ruling is expected sometime Wednesday.
Time Is Running Out
In some ways, Talwani’s persistence has paid off already. North Carolina already had its ballots and envelopes printed by the weekend, and, in fact, the state sent out its mail-in ballots Friday. Alabama follows suit on September 9, Minnesota and South Dakota on September 18, and Michigan on September 19. In Wisconsin, some local clerks have already started mailing ballots specifically in anticipation of USPS delays.
In total, 17 states and DC will begin mail-in voting in September. And the rest start in October. The District and Eight states – California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington – automatically send mail-in ballots to every registered voter, and many of these states already have their ballots and envelopes approved and printed.
Indeed, simply because the timing is so tight, the Supreme Court very well might rule against the USPS rule going into effect for this election cycle. As of this weekend, the portal states are supposed to use to send in their voter verification lists still isn’t up. It’s supposed to be available sometime this week, allegedly. While the Court may rule in Trump’s favor for future elections, the likelihood that they’ll do so for this year – or that it will matter – gets slimmer every day.
