President Donald Trump appeals to Supreme Court to preserve executive order on mail-in voting
The administration announced an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to preserve an executive order aimed at regulating mail-in voting and verifying voter eligibility. The order, signed in March, requires states to submit lists of eligible voters to the US Postal Service and tasks the Department of Homeland Security to compile a list of confirmed US citizens. It also threatens to prioritize the prosecution of state and local officials who issue ballots to non-citizens or those not on the administration's approved lists. While a district court blocked several provisions of the order, the administration argued that the court acted prematurely because the federal agencies have not yet fully implemented the rules. The administration's appeal seeks to buy time for these agencies to flesh out the details before a final legal reckoning. The case also highlights a potential showdown over the Purcell principle, a doctrine that warns federal courts against making last-minute changes to voting rules close to an election. If the court sides with the administration, it will set the public on a course to determine if the administration has the unilateral authority to rewrite federal election rules without a mandate from Congress.