by Misty Severi
The Supreme Court ruled Monday to pause a lower court’s order that blocked key directives from President Donald Trump’s executive order to restrict mail-in voting for the midterm elections in November.
The executive order, issued in March of this year, directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of eligible voters nationwide, on a state-by-state basis, and seeks to block the U.S. Postal Service from delivering absentee ballots to voters not on state-approved rolls.
The Supreme Court’s ruling comes after nearly two dozen states sued to block the order, and a federal judge in June barred the Trump administration from implementing provisions related to the mail-in ballots and the state citizenship lists for the November midterms in the states that sued.
The Supreme Court did not rule on the legality of Trump’s executive order but opposed the timing of the legal challenge.
“The court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the government to implement the order will necessarily be lawful. On that score, time will tell,” the court wrote. “But the order itself does not harm the states, so the District Court lacked jurisdiction to bar the government from trying to implement it. And for the reasons discussed, that injunction is likely to irreparably harm the government if it remains in place while the appellate process runs its course.”
In reaction to the ruling, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the Court’s ruling did not address “the substance of Trump’s unconstitutional Executive Order and does not mean his illegal attempt to restrict mail-in voting will go forward. ”
“Donald Trump does not run elections here in Pennsylvania — or in any state. We’ll see the Trump Administration in court. In the meantime, I’ll keep defending Pennsylvanians’ right to free, fair, and secure elections,” Shapiro said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James noted the ruling is “a painful setback, but it won’t be the final word.”
“The right to vote is sacred, and no administration should be able to put that right in jeopardy. We’re exploring our legal options,” James explained.
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Misty Severi is a reporter for Just the News.
