Trump Gets Major Legal Victory on Mail-In Voting Restrictions—for Now

In a blow to voters everywhere, a federal appeals court just made it easier for President Donald Trump to suppress mail-in voting. The midterms are two months away.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision Tuesday, arguing that a Democratic lawsuit challenging Trump’s mail-in voting executive order was premature. This result could have disastrous implications for the upcoming midterm elections: Not only does Trump’s executive order direct the Department of Homeland Security to create a national citizenship registry list, but it also orders the U.S. Postal Service to withhold mail-in ballots from states that don’t share voter registration data with the federal government.

“Cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible, what’s gone on,” Trump said while signing the order in March. “Democrats want to use it for cheating.… I think this will help a lot with elections.”

In reality, mail-in voting is proven to be a secure and reliable method used by hundreds of thousands of voters across the political spectrum. The president himself has voted by mail in recent elections—but it’s OK when he does it, he says, “because I’m president.”

This new ruling from the D.C. Circuit comes only one day after Trump’s Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue, calling the Democratic legal challenge “premature” and “hypothetical” because Trump’s executive order hasn’t yet been entirely implemented into DHS or USPS policy.

The administration’s language is reflected in Tuesday’s D.C. circuit court ruling, which argues in favor of the Trump administration because the Democratic plaintiffs are concerned with “the lawfulness of proposed actions if implemented on the threshold of the upcoming federal election.” In other words, Trump’s executive order might be breaking the law, but the court isn’t comfortable saying so until it’s too late.

“If the defendant agencies take steps to implement the Executive Order in a manner that violates federal law or the Constitution, Plaintiffs can promptly seek relief,” the decision says.

Trump’s attack on mail-in voting goes hand in hand with the SAVE Act, a massive voter suppression bill Trump is trying to ram through the Senate this week. These increasingly desperate attempts to stop Americans from voting underscore the fact that the midterms aren’t looking so good for Republicans—and Trump likely knows he can’t win without cheating. ...