Supreme Court rejects President Donald Trump’s mail ballot restrictions ahead of midterm elections

Supreme Court rejects President Donald Trump’s mail ballot restrictions ahead of midterm elections Election officials said a complete overhaul of the system could not be carried out in the weeks before the midterms and three states began sending mail ballots to voters over the past week The US Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump's mail ballot restriction ahead of the mid-term elections. The decision by the court on Monday, September 14 comes as a response to the Trump administration, which asked the court to clear the way for restrictions before the November ballot for control of Congress. The case has major implications as one-third of the country votes by mail. The justices upheld a federal judge's order that temporarily blocked the US Postal Service (USPS) from moving forwards with new requirements for postal ballots. Trump says that the rules would combat electoral fraud. He signed an executive order in March directing the USPS to deliver ballots only to voters on lists of citizens. Election officials said a complete overhaul of the system could not be carried out in the weeks before the midterms. In the executive order, Trump directed USPS to introduce unique barcodes on postal ballot envelopes. State and local election officials would also be required to supply information to an online portal about voters who receive mail ballots. Twenty-three states and Washington DC sued to stop the order and the postal workers' union said clerks could not be trained in time for the election. Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin began sending mail ballots to voters over the past week while the new system was still not active. The Supreme Court's decision is unlikely to be the final word on the matter, however. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative, agreed with the ruling but indicated he might later rule in Trump's favour as litigation in the case continues.