US Supreme Court lifts block on Trump’s mail-in ballot restrictions

The US Supreme Court has handed President Donald Trump a temporary legal victory by lifting a lower court order that had blocked his executive directive seeking to restrict the use of mail-in ballots.

Trump issued the order in March as part of efforts to change mail-in voting rules ahead of the November midterm elections.

The directive quickly triggered legal challenges from Democratic-led states, which argued that the federal government had overstepped its constitutional authority.

The states maintained that the Constitution gives states broad responsibility for administering elections rather than the federal government.

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A federal district court in Massachusetts had previously halted the implementation of Trump’s order. However, the Supreme Court on Monday removed that stay, allowing portions of the directive to proceed while the broader legal battle continues.

In an unsigned majority opinion, the Supreme Court said the district court did not have the authority to prevent the federal government from attempting to implement Trump’s executive order.

“The District Court lacked jurisdiction to bar the Government from trying to implement” the order, the justices said.

The court, however, stopped short of ruling on whether the measures contained in the executive order are ultimately lawful.

“The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,” the majority said, adding that further proceedings would determine the issue.

The three liberal members of the nine-member court dissented from the decision.

Under Trump’s March directive, authorities would be required to compile lists of eligible voters, with the US Postal Service instructed to deliver mail-in ballots only to voters appearing on those lists.

Trump has repeatedly criticised voting by mail, despite having used the system himself. Earlier this month, he cast a mail-in ballot in Florida’s Republican primary.

The president has also long alleged, without providing evidence, that mail-in voting is susceptible to widespread fraud. He has repeatedly linked those claims to his unsubstantiated assertion that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him by Democrat Joe Biden.

“Mail-in ballots are inherently corrupt,” Trump said during a July speech on election security.

The Supreme Court ruling comes as Republicans face a potentially difficult midterm election campaign in November. Polling indicates that Democrats could challenge the Republican Party’s narrow control of Congress, with the House of Representatives viewed as particularly vulnerable.

A Democratic takeover of Congress could significantly complicate Trump’s legislative agenda, with party leaders also indicating that they could pursue another impeachment effort against the president.

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