TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SEEKS SUPREME COURT BACKING FOR MAIL-IN VOTING ORDER

The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court on Monday to allow an executive order that would dramatically alter mail-in voting ahead of November's midterm elections. The Justice Department filed an emergency appeal after an appeals court upheld a lower court ruling blocking the order in nearly half the country. The administration requested that the Supreme Court allow the proposed changes to move ahead whilst lawsuits continue. Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia have sued to block the order, arguing that the Constitution grants states and Congress—not the president—authority to set election rules.

The executive order, issued in March, directs the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration's commissioner to create a federal list of eligible voters. The order instructs the US Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on that list. Trump framed the measure as a safeguard against non-citizen voting, though recorded data indicates such voting is rare and constitutes a felony punishable by deportation. Democratic lawyers have argued the proposed changes are vulnerable to abuse and could cause electoral disruption.

US District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston blocked implementation of the order in June for the states that sued. A divided panel of the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision over the weekend. The dispute represents one of several voting-related challenges expected to reach the Supreme Court before the midterm contest in November.