US judge allows challenges to Trump’s mail-in voting order ahead of November elections

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON, June 18 (Reuters) – A federal judge in Boston on Thursday ruled that Democratic-led states and voting rights groups could proceed with lawsuits challenging U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting ahead of November’s elections.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani could open the door to her blocking the order from being implemented ahead of midterm elections that are set to decide whether Republicans can retain control of Congress.

Talwani, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, wrote that the potential for Trump’s order to impact the midterm elections and primaries scheduled before then meant the plaintiffs’ cases could not wait to be heard.

The order “both includes multiple specific directives as to certain actions that federal agencies must take at specified times and requires that definite ‘substantive outcomes’ be implemented that will affect the upcoming election,” she wrote.

“Postponing judicial review is impracticable and may inflict significant hardship on Plaintiffs,” Talwani said.

But the judge said many uncertainties exist as to how agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Service, will ultimately implement Trump’s order through rules and policies they must adopt.

She said those uncertainties justified dismissing for now the plaintiffs’ challenges to Trump’s order as it affects elections after the November 3 midterms, though Talwani left the door open to them reviving those claims later.

In a joint statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, plaintiffs including the League of Women Voters said they are “grateful the court recognized the urgency and stakes of this case and allowed our lawsuit to proceed with respect to this year’s elections.”

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement said the administration “will continue to fight for the agenda the president was elected on – which includes the safety and security of our nation’s elections.”

Trump, a Republican, signed the order on March 31 after calling for years for tighter rules on voting by mail and pushing the false claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud. Under the U.S. Constitution, states are assigned the role of administering federal elections.

His order directs the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to compile and transmit to the states a list of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state, derived from citizenship and naturalization records and other federal databases.

Trump’s order also requires the U.S. Postal Service to only deliver ballots to voters on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list. USPS recently moved to implement Trump’s directive by issuing proposed rules requiring states to provide the names and ​barcodes tied to their mail-in ballots.

The order also directs the U.S. Department of Justice to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of state and local election officials who issue federal ballots to people deemed “not eligible” to vote.

Voting rights groups sued the administration along with 23 states and the District of Columbia, arguing Trump’s order is unconstitutional and that he lacks any legal authority to assert presidential power over election administration.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Nia Williams, Rod Nickel and Stephen Coates)