The Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to enforce new mail-in ballot restrictions before the November midterms. The justices found the government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to a lower court injunction, which means the rules stay blocked. Justices Alito and Thomas dissented. Justice Kavanaugh agreed to keep the rules blocked for this election while noting the legal fight continues. President Trump called the decision a big loss for Republicans and America itself.
The rules stemmed from a March 31 executive order directing the Postal Service to create new ballot security requirements. The Postal Service finalized them on August 26, requiring states to use approved ballot envelopes with unique barcodes and to submit voter information to a Postal Service portal. States and voting rights groups sued, arguing the federal government was intruding on state authority and that standing up a new system weeks before an election could stop eligible voters from receiving their ballots.
For voters across Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and the rest of the Suncoast, the practical result is that nothing changes. Your county supervisor of elections still runs mail voting, your existing deadlines and drop box locations remain in place, and absentee requests work exactly as they did last cycle. If you are a snowbird planning to vote from out of state, get your request in early. The calendar does not bend. So where do you stand: should mail-in voting rules be set in Tallahassee or in Washington?
