Trump Asks Supreme Court To Federalize Envelopes

President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to rescue American democracy from its most dangerous remaining threat: Americans receiving ballots without first appearing on a federal list of people deemed sufficiently American to use an envelope. The emergency request seeks to revive an executive order directing the federal government to compile an approved-voter roster and requiring the U.S. Postal Service to distribute mail ballots only to names on it. The plan would streamline the nation’s patchwork election system by transferring key decisions from state officials to postal employees consulting a Washington clipboard.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the order nationwide less than 90 days before Election Day, relying on the increasingly controversial theory that presidents cannot absorb state election powers simply because Congress declined to hand them over. Trump rejected that interpretation, explaining that fewer voters would make voting considerably easier. “We’re making elections more accessible because millions of people will no longer have to go through the burden of receiving, completing or returning a ballot,” Trump said. “That’s efficiency, tremendous efficiency, and nobody understands envelopes or democracy better than I do.” Administration officials added that citizens omitted from the federal list would remain fully entitled to support democracy in speeches, merchandise purchases and private thoughts.

The justices must now decide whether Congress and the states retain their traditional authority over elections or whether the Postal Service should operate as a national ballot nightclub, checking every voter against a federal guest list before allowing democracy through the door. Critics said the last-minute overhaul could produce confusion, delays and disenfranchisement. Supporters replied that confusion is merely election security doing paperwork, while disenfranchisement is proof that the paperwork succeeded. Under the administration’s constitutional framework, every unmailed ballot is a fraud prevented, every excluded voter is a vulnerability repaired, and every empty polling place is evidence of public confidence. The safest election is therefore one in which fewer Americans are allowed to participate.

* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.