Before the congressional midterm elections scheduled for Nov. 3, the U.S. Supreme Court did not allow new requirements for voting by mail to take effect.
The Court rejected the government’s request to overturn a lower court ruling that halted implementation of the new rules. As a result, the new requirements will not apply in the midterm elections while the legal process over the issue continues.
Kavanaugh says there was not enough time for implementation
In an assessment following the decision, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said state and local election officials did not have enough time to implement the new rules before the election.
Kavanaugh described applying the rules in the upcoming election as “arbitrary and irrational.”
New USPS rule announced on Aug. 25
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) announced a rule on Aug. 25 requiring state election officials to upload the names and address information of voters who would vote by mail to a portal.
Under the regulation, state election officials were required to submit voter information to the “federal ballots to the mail portal.” It had been stated that ballots would not be sent to states that failed to submit the information.
Trump signed executive order in April
U.S. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order in April aimed at tightening the rules for voting by mail in the country.
In the Nov. 3 congressional midterm elections, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested.