Even Republican Attorneys General Refuse to Defend Trump’s Assault on Mail Voting
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.
Barely 12 out of 27 Republican attorneys general have chosen to back the Trump administration’s dangerous restrictions on mail-in voting, as most refuse to support this attack on democracy. Meanwhile, Democrats and voting-rights advocates fight in court to protect the right to vote.
In a telling sign of division within the Republican Party, only twelve Republican state attorneys general have filed an amicus brief to oppose a request by Democratic-led states and voting-rights groups for a preliminary injunction against President Donald Trump’s latest order restricting mail-in voting and the corresponding U.S. Postal Service rule. The attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Texas claim these new restrictions are merely 'modest mailing conditions' that supposedly improve election security, ignoring the clear intent to suppress voter participation.
Notably, fifteen Republican attorneys general—including those from Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming—have refused to join the defense of Trump’s anti-democratic order. These officials either declined to comment or ignored requests for explanation, highlighting the growing discomfort even within Republican ranks over blatant voter suppression tactics.
Democratic attorneys general, joined by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, have taken decisive legal action, filing a lawsuit that exposes how the Postal Service rule would obstruct the administration of mail-voting programs and disenfranchise voters. Their filing warns that the rule 'will frustrate or outright prevent Plaintiff States from administering their mail voting programs in November and foreseeably disenfranchise voters who vote by mail.'
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts has already recognized the urgency of the threat, issuing a 14-day temporary restraining order. The court is set to hear arguments on the preliminary injunction request on September 3, as the fight to protect voting rights continues.