A federal judge on May 28 allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to implement an executive order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, based in Washington, rejected a request from Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), for an injunction against the order.
Absent an injunction, the federal government would compile lists of U.S. citizens and would coerce states into only allowing people on the lists to register to vote and vote in elections, even though the sources for the list are known to be deficient, plaintiffs argued in court filings.
Nichols disagreed, writing in a 26-page decision that while the order directed federal officials to compile the lists, it “does not mandate any action by a State once a List has been transmitted to it, and in any event, no infrastructure for compilation or transmission of the Lists has been established.”
The situation may change if the U.S. Postal Service issues a final rule affecting plaintiffs, or if the government develops lists that erroneously omit certain individuals, the judge said.
“Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur,” he wrote. “Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted.”
The development means Trump and the federal government can implement the order, but the case will continue.
Trump signed the order on March 31. It states that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections and that new measures were necessary to “enhance election integrity” for mail-in ballots, which have become increasingly used in recent years.
It directed the secretary of homeland security to compile lists of adult citizens living in each state and to transmit the lists to each state. It also said that the U.S. Postal Service shall propose new rules specifying that all ballots must be mailed in envelopes marked for elections, and that the service “shall not transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from any individual unless those individuals” are on the citizenship lists.
“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what has been going on,” Trump said when signing the order. “If you don’t have honest voting, you can’t have, really, a nation.”