The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to impose new restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of November’s midterm elections. The ruling blocks the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing regulations that would have required states to comply with cumbersome new rules, such as redesigning mail-in envelopes and uploading voter lists to the USPS. This decision allows states to continue using the same voting processes they have followed for years.
The court determined that election officials did not have sufficient time to implement the new rules before the midterms, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh stating that applying the USPS rule would be arbitrary and capricious. President Trump had sought to limit mail voting through a March executive order, arguing without providing evidence that the system is vulnerable to fraud. Election officials of both parties warned that the last-minute changes could have caused an administrative disaster and injected chaos into the contests.
The ruling comes as North Carolina and Alabama have already begun mailing ballots, with many other states preparing to do so. Mail-in ballots have accounted for nearly a third of votes cast, and surveys suggest Democratic voters use the system disproportionately. The upcoming midterms will determine the makeup of Congress for the final two years of the president's term.
President Trump reacted angrily to the decision on social media, describing it as a personal betrayal and claiming the justices who opposed him were not the people he interviewed. He argued that the ruling was bad for Republicans and claimed it sets the United States back 100 years. He further stated that the court's inability to do the right thing for the country would be viewed negatively in the annals of history.