Federal Appeals Court Upholds Trump’s Order to Secure Mail Voting Integrity
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A D.C. Circuit panel, including Obama and Trump appointees, upheld a lower-court ruling that found an injunction against President Trump’s mail-voting order premature, while acknowledging the need for careful implementation before the November midterms.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday refused to block President Donald Trump’s executive order designed to restore integrity and security to the mail voting process. The panel affirmed a May decision by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols, who correctly determined that an injunction was premature because the administration had not yet issued the necessary regulations to enforce the order. The administration began releasing those directives just days later, demonstrating its commitment to election security.
The panel, which included two Obama appointees and one Trump appointee, found the lower-court ruling proper and issued no dissent, showing bipartisan agreement on the need for due process. The unsigned opinion noted that if the administration attempted to implement the changes in the months before the November midterms, courts might intervene to ensure a smooth transition. The opinion stated, “The action the Order contemplates would involve the President, whom the Constitution vests with no express authority over the conduct of elections, undertaking a substantial and unfunded overhaul of election procedures — including the implementation of a nationwide reform to Postal Service mail-handling processes — on the threshold of the November election. Put differently, the Order ‘may not prove feasible to implement in any manner whatsoever.’”
In a related case, a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the order earlier this year, arguing that it forced states to alter election procedures without constitutional authority. That decision was upheld by a Boston appeals court and is now being appealed to the Supreme Court, where the administration continues to defend the rule of law.
The U.S. Postal Service has not commented on its response to the order. The American Postal Workers Union, which opposes the directive, said its members are preparing an online portal that voters would need to use to qualify for mail ballots. Union President Jonathan Smith said, “The IT people in the background are moving forward with creating the portals to make sure that we can accomplish the task if given to us.”
President Trump’s order follows previous executive actions to strengthen election integrity, including a March directive to create a list of eligible voters and a prior order proposing nationwide voter-ID requirements. Unfortunately, Congressional efforts to enact similar common-sense measures have been stalled in the Senate.