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WASHINGTON: An appeals court on Thursday upheld a block on President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order limiting mail voting, a decision that comes as the Supreme Court considers the same case and states have already started sending out ballots for the high-stakes midterm elections.<\/p>\n
The three-judge panel refused to lift a preliminary injunction against the order issued last week by US District Court Judge Indira Talwani. It prohibits the US Postal Service from implementing Trump\u2019s directive. The Postal Service has said it would not deliver ballots from states that did not pre-clear their envelope design with the federal government and submit a list of voters to an online portal, which has yet to be activated.<\/p>\n
Election officials warn that it\u2019s impossible to comply with those terms, especially with the first mail ballots already being sent out in Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
The panel of three judges nominated by former President Joe Biden agreed with the plaintiffs that the president does not have the power to regulate states\u2019 election policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAppellants have not made a strong showing that the district court erred in determining that the Final Rule is likely unlawful,\u201d they wrote, a reference to a rule published by the Postal Service to implement Trump\u2019s order.<\/p>\n
The panel wrote that the Trump administration had done little to dispel arguments by many election officials that the changes would bring \u201cchaos and widespread disenfranchisement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, appellants have not even seriously challenged this aspect of the district court\u2019s ruling, much less demonstrated why it is clearly erroneous,\u201d the order states.<\/p>\n
The government also hasn\u2019t shown evidence of past fraud to justify the restrictions, the judges said.<\/p>\n
A request for comment from the White House was not immediately returned.<\/p>\n
The panel\u2019s decision comes even as the Supreme Court is already considering the same case, which is part of a frenzied legal rush as states are beginning to send out mail ballots for this fall\u2019s midterm elections. Democrats and civil rights groups in a separate lawsuit in Washington, D.C., also are trying to halt the executive order.<\/p>\n
The 1st Circuit also had upheld a previous hold Talwani placed on the executive order. But that ruling was lifted by the Supreme Court in a procedural decision that did not determine whether the plan was constitutional.<\/p>\n
The plaintiffs swiftly filed new lawsuits after the Postal Service finalized its rule governing mail ballots.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n