Key facts
- A federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's request to lift an injunction against an executive order on mail-in voting.
- The order aimed to tighten rules for mail-in voting and was challenged by several Democratic-led states.
- The court found that states had to act immediately on the order's directives due to upcoming deadlines.
- A previous attempt by Democrats to block the order in Washington D.C. was rejected by a federal judge.
- The Department of Justice may seek intervention from the Supreme Court.
A federal appeals court has refused to allow the Trump administration to implement an executive order designed to tighten rules for mail-in voting. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rejected the administration's plea to overturn a lower court's injunction, which had been secured by a coalition of Democratic-led states.
The appeals court, in a 2-1 decision, agreed with the district court's reasoning that the executive order imposed rapidly approaching deadlines for states to coordinate with federal officials and comply with new voting procedures. The judges stated that the plaintiff states had no practical choice but to respond to the order immediately.
Previously, a federal judge in Washington D.C. had dismissed a similar legal challenge from Democrats. The Department of Justice had argued that the lawsuit was premature because federal agencies had not yet finalized actions to implement the directive. However, the appeals court found this argument unconvincing given the order's tight timelines.
President Trump signed the executive order in March, following years of advocating for stricter mail-in voting regulations and promoting unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. The order directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of eligible voters for states and required the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots only to voters on approved lists. It also instructed the Department of Justice to prioritize investigating and prosecuting election officials who issue ballots to ineligible individuals.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who was appointed by Barack Obama, had previously ruled that President Trump lacked the authority to direct DHS to compile voter eligibility lists and that the USPS had no statutory basis to regulate mail-in voting. She also stated that Trump could not use the order to intimidate local election officials.