The Trump administration was granted a temporary victory on Friday (July 17) regarding its mail-in voting restriction efforts.
A Washington, D.C. appeals court unanimously ruled to put a hold on a lower court ruling, which had blocked the U.S. Postal Service from its attempts to restrict mail-in voting, per ABC News.
According to the D.C. Circuit order document, the appeals court temporarily paused the lower court’s order while the appeal is being considered. It did not make a final decision about who is legally right or permanently resolve the case.
The panel of three judges decreed that the Postal Service had enough reason to justify a pause, but a different conclusion could still be reached after the appeal is fully reviewed.
The administration doesn’t have permission to move forward with the proposed rule yet because a Massachusetts federal judge blocked the policy with an injunction last month, which still stands.
What the proposed USPS rule would require
The proposed rule would make states and local election offices provide the Postal Service with more information about every mail-in ballot used in most federal elections. Officials would be required to put a unique tracking barcode on the envelope and states would have to create lists of approved voters along with imposing stricter regulations.
If enacted, USPS would have to check outgoing ballots to ensure they meet the new standards and could reject and return an entire noncompliant mailing to officials for correction, potentially causing delays.
The judges also ruled USPS demonstrated it would suffer “irreparable harm” if they are unable to implement the rule by the midterms, per The Hill.
Which elections and ballots are covered
According to the Federal Register proposal, this would cover general, special, and runoff federal elections, but not primaries or ballots covered by the overseas and military-voter law.
The rule is not currently in effect, the appeals court’s stay only temporarily lifted the lower court’s restriction while the appeal continues.
What happens next
Nothing is changing right away since the rule is not final and the Massachusetts injunction still blocks it, not to mention other judges have struck down the executive action issued in March seeking to overhaul elections by creating an internal list of eligible voters.
The administration can continue appealing and may try to implement the rule before November. If allowed, states would have to provide information about mail-ballot recipients to the USPS. States that refuse could have their outgoing ballots rejected, potentially preventing voters from receiving them or causing delays.
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