The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday moved to allow President Donald Trump to implement key portions of his executive order on mail-in voting ahead of the November midterm election.
The decision, which was 6-3 with the court's liberal justices dissenting, will permit the Department of Homeland Security to compile a federal citizenship list and share it with states, allow the Attorney General to prioritize prosecution of state officials who may issue ballots to ineligible voters, and green-light U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rulemaking for state mail ballot designs.
The ruling did not address what is arguably the most controversial portion of the order: requiring the USPS to verify voting eligibility of each person receiving a mail ballot and withhold ballots from anyone not on a government list. That provision remains blocked in a different legal case.
The conservative majority in an unsigned per curiam opinion said the Democrat-led states that sued over the executive order have not yet been harmed by it, and that lower court judges exceeded their authority in blocking it from going forward. The opinion makes clear that it is not taking a position on the lawfulness of how Trump may ultimately choose to implement the order.
"On that score, time will tell," the court writes.
"If the Postal Service's final rule harms the states," the opinion says, "they may challenge that rule."
The immediate impact on the November midterm elections is not clear, though many legal experts said the decision was not on its own likely to result in significant changes for voters.
In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, said she believes the executive order already imposed potential harms on states and that the dispute should now be addressed on the merits. Writing separately in dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson accused her conservative colleagues of contributing to electoral confusion on the eve of voting.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling:
This decision is a painful setback, but it will not be the final word. The right to vote is sacred, and no administration should be allowed to put that right in jeopardy by making it harder for eligible voters to cast their ballots.
This fight is far from over. We are exploring our legal options.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul released this statement:
Today's ruling does not change the facts: President Trump does not get to rewrite election law or suppress the right to vote with the stroke of a pen.
New York's elections are secure. Our laws are clear. And the Constitution does not give the President the authority to override the longstanding role of states in administering their own elections.
New York challenged this unlawful executive order from the very beginning and we'll continue the fight to protect New Yorkers' sacred right to vote and the integrity of our elections.
