North Carolina Begins Mailing Ballots for Midterms Amid Federal Legal Dispute

North Carolina became the first state to start mailing absentee ballots for the November midterm elections on Friday, proceeding just hours after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow a proposed crackdown on mail voting. The state's early start is mandated by a statute that requires county boards to begin sending ballots 60 days before a general election, one of the earliest timelines in the United States.

The federal request seeks to reinstate a rule that would bar the Postal Service from delivering ballots in states that do not share voter data with the government and would require ballot envelopes to be screened against new standards before delivery. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer told the justices that a lower-court freeze on the plan was causing "serious irreparable harm" to the government, states and voters.

The administration's effort follows a Massachusetts federal judge's June injunction that blocked the plan, finding it infringed on states' constitutional authority over elections. The Supreme Court's conservative majority previously sided with the administration in August but deemed the challenge premature, leaving the issue open for further litigation. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who handles emergency applications from the region, has not granted an immediate stay but has given opponents until Tuesday to respond, a deadline that offers little time for the Postal Service to implement the proposed changes before ballots must reach voters nationwide.