Supreme Court gives Trump room to run on plan to have post office police mail-in ballots

The Supreme Court allowed President Trump to proceed with plans having the U.S. Postal Service determine which mailed ballots to deliver, ruling it was premature for lower courts to block the initiative. In an unsigned order Monday, the justices stated the district court had overstepped by interfering with executive branch decisions. The court noted that "the government is likely to prevail on the merits of its argument that the district court lacked jurisdiction." Trump's March executive order directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of eligible voters for each state, excluding noncitizens and others ineligible to vote. The Postal Service would then deliver ballots only to approved voters for November's midterm elections. The Postal Service recently finalized rules requiring states to submit ballot envelopes for approval and mark mail with unique barcodes for tracking. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani had previously blocked implementation, arguing that "the executive branch has no authority to regulate elections." The Postal Service countered that it was merely imposing "modest data and mail preparation requirements" while preserving state autonomy over their electoral systems. Three Democratic-appointed justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warning the ruling "needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections."