By Tim Reid
WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) – The Trump administration renewed on Sunday its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to limit mail voting ahead of the congressional elections in November, after a federal judge blocked these restrictions last week.
Lawyers for the Trump administration filed a request for a stay with the country’s Supreme Court to permit the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to implement a rule that restricts mail voting, even as some U.S. states have already begun sending ballots by mail ahead of the midterm elections on November 3.
Federal Judge Indira Talwani, of Boston, extended on Friday the injunction that prevents the new rule from taking effect.
The final decision on whether the mail voting restrictions imposed by the government can proceed probably lies with the Supreme Court now.
Deputy Attorney General John Sauer, representing the Trump administration, urged the Supreme Court to allow the rule to go into effect immediately, warning that each day that the district court’s injunction remains in force “risks sowing confusion and chaos,” as more states mail ballots.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson set a deadline of Wednesday for responses to the Trump administration’s request.
The government had previously filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court to overturn the short-term injunction granted by Judge Talwani. Before the Supreme Court ruled on that request, she extended the injunction on Friday, which led to the government filing a new petition on Sunday.
Trump has for years been calling for restrictions on mail voting, amid false claims that his 2020 presidential election loss was the result of widespread election fraud.
Under the rule, states must provide the USPS with lists of recipients of mail ballots, and all mail delivery and return envelopes must contain unique barcodes. The rule allows the USPS to refuse to deliver ballots that do not comply with the new standards or that are associated with voters not on the lists.
All U.S. states allow some form of mail voting. Twenty-nine states permit voters to request mail-in ballots without needing to state a reason, and eight conduct elections entirely by mail.
North Carolina became on Friday the first state to mail ballots for the November elections.
(Reporting by Tim Reid in Washington, and Nate Raymond in Boston)
