Trump lawyer urges Supreme Court to allow order targeting mail-in voting before midterms
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration on Monday urged the Supreme Court to overturn the judge’s ruling and clear the way for a state-by-state listing of citizens eligible to vote by mail.
Lawyer Gen. D. John Sauer filed an emergency appeal, saying judges in Boston mistakenly intervened too early.
In March, President Trump directed the U.S. Postal Service to direct states to prepare a list of citizens eligible to vote. The list will limit who can receive a mail-in ballot.
Additionally, Sauer directed the Department of Homeland Security to “compile and transmit state-specific lists of persons who are citizens and will be 18 years of age or older at the time of the upcoming election.”
Lawyers for California and 22 other Democratic-led states filed the lawsuit, arguing that states, not the federal government, have constitutional authority to set voting and election rules.
In June, at least the 23 states that sued won before a federal judge in Boston, who blocked Trump’s decision from moving forward. His decision was upheld by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals over the weekend.
Trump’s attorney general focused his appeal on a procedural issue, not on whether the president has the legal authority to apply national rules to state-run elections.
The U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security have not released final specific plans to comply with Trump’s directive, Sauer said.
“Courts cannot prohibit enforcement of Executive Orders that leave open substantive issues that still need to be resolved by agencies,” he wrote.
He asked the court to lift or suspend the “early injunction orders”.
“Time is running out,” he said.
“Without a delay, there will not be enough time to get appeal relief before the November election,” Sauer said. “This is especially true because enforcement efforts for any USPS rules or DHS policies will need to begin well before November…especially given that absentee and mail-in voting begins (in some states) several weeks before Election Day.”
The justices requested responses from 23 Democratic states by Aug. 3.
