The Promise Kept, The Block Broken
President Donald Trump promised to fix election integrity. An Obama judge tried to stop him. Now the Supreme Court has lifted that block. In 23 states and Washington, D.C., the policy advances while justices voted 6-3 to lift the order. This was not a small procedural win. It is a major step for election security. The court said the states sued too early to stop this.
The order bears the title, “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” It directs the homeland security department to compile lists of adult citizens. States must receive these lists no later than 60 days prior to any federal election. The Postal Service also finished its own rule in August. Every ballot now gets a unique serial number in the barcode. This system tracks every single envelope sent out.
The Dissent and The Doubt
Not everyone is happy with this move. SCOTUSblog reports that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson argued in dissent the administration desired the court’s “imprimatur for its effort to foment chaos ahead of the November elections.” She believes this will cause trouble. Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined her in this view. They argue the ruling merely postpones the real legal fight.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island spoke on MSNBC about the decision. When host Lawrence O’Donnell asked him, “Senator, what was your reaction to the White House decision today,” Whitehouse responded, “More weirdness out of this Supreme Court.”He asserts that postmasters general have never held any role in elections. He says this shifts power from the states to the federal level. He describes access to the mail for certain voters as a prior restraint.
Whitehouse added that the court is “up to no good for a political motive.” He feels anxious about the court’s direction. He points to past decisions like presidential immunity as examples. He worries the court is making false facts about dark money. The judge who blocked the order, Indira Talwani, was appointed by former President Barack Obama. The government received a deadline of 8 a.m. Tuesday from her to respond to claims from the League of Women Voters.
Let’s be clear about what is happening here. The administration is building a system to verify citizenship. The states must feed voter names and addresses into a Federal Ballot Mail Portal. This is a concrete change in how ballots move. Although the Postal Service rule initiated a process, no final rule was in place at the time the suit was filed. The court says states can challenge the finished rule if it injures them.
The unsigned opinion said the order binds no state yet. It reaches only inside the executive branch. Directing the attorney general to prioritize cases against officials who hand ballots to ineligible voters sits within presidential power. This is the core of the majority’s finding. The states went to court before the order had done anything to them. The court was right to say they moved too fast.
The nationwide injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani still bars the agency, according to the Daily Caller.