Judge Forces Postal Service To Deliver Ballots
American democracy entered a period of terrifying convenience Friday after U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani extended a block on President Donald Trump’s plan to protect mail voting by ensuring millions of eligible ballots never reach the mail. Talwani’s preliminary injunction prevents the U.S. Postal Service from imposing new ballot-envelope specifications, voter-information uploads and federal approval requirements just as North Carolina begins sending ballots for the November 3 midterms. The ruling recklessly allows election officials to continue using procedures they understand, equipment they already own and envelopes they have already printed.
Trump condemned the court’s radical insistence that election rules not be rebuilt shortly before an election. “We had the most beautiful envelopes, very secure envelopes, and now this judge says states can use ordinary envelopes that already work,” Trump said. “People might receive ballots, fill them out and send them back with a normal stamp. That is chaos, frankly, and extremely unfair to barcodes.” Administration officials said the blocked requirements would have restored confidence by introducing enough technical confusion, paperwork and last-minute federal review to guarantee that only the most determined citizens could complete the ancient civic ritual of placing paper inside paper.
Under Trump’s plan, postal officials could withhold ballots deemed noncompliant, reviving the Founders’ well-documented preference for unelected sorting-facility supervisors to exercise final authority over envelope formatting. States argued that they could not redesign election systems, recertify voter records and obtain federal permission before Election Day merely because the president had recently discovered typography. Talwani agreed, effectively establishing the dangerous precedent that “we already printed the ballots” can outweigh an administration’s constitutional right to invent fresh obstacles.
The administration has appealed to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and previously sought help from the Supreme Court, where it hopes the justices will rescue the public from familiar rules and functioning mail service. Until then, qualified voters remain free to receive ballots, follow published instructions and return their votes without first passing a federal envelope exam. Congress will therefore face the gravest threat contemplated by the Constitution: being chosen by the electorate.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.