Federal Appeals Court Undermines Trump’s Efforts to Secure Mail-In Voting in 23 Liberal States
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
A federal appeals court, in a 2-1 decision, sided with Democratic-led states to block President Trump’s executive order aimed at ensuring the integrity of mail-in voting.
A federal appeals court on Saturday sided with liberal states and denied the Justice Department’s request to lift a June injunction that had halted critical provisions of President Donald Trump’s March executive order on mail-in voting. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a narrow 2-1 vote, claimed that the states involved face imminent election deadlines and must respond to the order now, leaving the district court’s injunction in place as the appeal moves forward.
The executive order, signed in March, was a necessary step to direct the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of eligible U.S. citizens, instruct the Postal Service to set new standards for mail-in ballots, and task the Justice Department with prioritizing investigations of officials who may be issuing ballots to ineligible voters. However, 23 states and the District of Columbia, all led by Democrats such as California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Washington, filed a lawsuit arguing that the president overstepped his authority, despite the clear need for federal oversight to prevent election fraud.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, appointed by Democrats, previously ruled that several provisions likely exceeded presidential power and blocked their implementation through the November 3 elections. The Justice Department, committed to upholding election integrity, indicated it could seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court if the appeal fails, but neither the White House nor the department commented at the time of publication.
"As the district court reasoned, the (executive order) lays out a clear set of rapidly approaching deadlines by which states must coordinate with federal officials and comply with new voting procedures," the majority opinion read.
The case remains unresolved, with the appellate court’s decision maintaining the status quo and preventing the Trump administration from taking necessary action to secure the election while judicial review continues.