The US Postal Service (USPS) said on Thursday that new requirements for mail-in voting are now in effect as Donald Trump seeks to crack down on the practice. The move is expected to trigger a new round of legal challenges.
The Trump administration has sought to impose new rules requiring state election leaders to submit their voter rolls for inspection as part of a broader bid to increase federal government oversight over voting and elections.
The post office requirements stem from an executive order issued by Trump earlier this year, requiring the post office to refrain from delivering ballots for mail-in voting to registered voters deemed ineligible when compared to Department of Homeland Security and other federal records.
The USPS posted a final rule on ballot delivery on Friday. On Thursday, the service said it would be implemented immediately, applying to ballots for November’s US midterm elections.
The US supreme court ruled on Monday that an injunction by a lower court should be lifted, at least until the post office had begun implementing the rule. The procedural ruling did not address the legality, or constitutionality, of the rule.
The constitution confers control over elections to states and Congress, not the executive.
US district judge Indira Talwani on Wednesday then lifted her nationwide block on the implementation of the postal service change, citing the supreme court’s decision.
Two dozen states and the District of Columbia filed a fresh lawsuit on Wednesday to block the executive order restricting mail voting in this year’s midterm elections.
The states said that the USPS policy is part of “a broader effort” by the administration “to rewrite federal election law and usurp the authority of the states and Congress”.
