Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid to Revive Strict Mail-Ballot Rules

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration's request to implement new U.S. Postal Service regulations for mail-in voting ahead of the November midterm elections.

The justices, in a 7-2 unsigned order, left intact a lower court's preliminary injunction blocking the rules, stating the government was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, agreed that applying the rule for the upcoming elections would be arbitrary and capricious due to insufficient time for state and local election officials to implement changes.

The rejected rules would have required federal ballot mail to be sent in specific envelopes with election-mail logos and barcodes, and mandated state officials upload voter information to a USPS portal. The Trump administration had argued these rules were necessary to combat mail-in voting fraud. However, the administration has not presented evidence of widespread voter fraud.

States, including Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, had already begun mailing ballots to voters when the Supreme Court acted. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the majority's order. President Donald Trump criticized the Supreme Court's decision, calling it a disaster and a big loss for Republicans.