WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Elias Law Group asked a federal court to block President Trump’s Executive Order restricting mail voting and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rule implementing it, just days before general election voting begins.
The supplemental complaint and renewed motion for a preliminary injunction were filed in DSCC v. Trump on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
In May, the court denied the plaintiffs’ earlier attempt to block the Executive Order as premature, inviting the plaintiffs to return if and when USPS issued a final rule to implement President Trump’s Executive Order.
The final rule, which was issued on Friday, August 21, requires every ballot envelope in every federal election to meet rigid federal design specifications. It requires state election officials to upload voter-identifying information and barcodes tied to individual pieces of ballot mail to a Postal Service portal, from which USPS will build an unprecedented state-by-state list of approved mail-in voters. Finally, it directs the Postal Service to “verify” ballot mail and to refuse to transmit any ballot in a noncompliant envelope or addressed to anyone who is not on the approved list of mail-in voters.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday did not determine whether the Trump Administration’s Executive Order is lawful,” said Elias Law Group partner Lali Madduri. “We are back in court with a renewed motion today because after the Postal Service issued a final rule implementing President Trump’s Executive Order, the Administration can no longer hide behind procedural arguments. Now, the court must decide whether a federal agency created to deliver the mail gets to decide which Americans receive a ballot, and which do not. Congress never gave USPS that authority, the Constitution gives the President no role in election administration, and the first general election mail ballots will be sent in just a few days. The court should act now to block this Executive Order and end the chaos and confusion.”
The supplemental complaint is available here.
The renewed motion for preliminary injunction is available here.
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