In yet another disgraceful action, the Supreme Court today allowed the Trump regime to proceed with implementing parts of its executive order to restrict mail-in voting, according to CNN and other media reports.
Earlier this month, the Equal Justice Society joined an amicus brief filed by the Asian Law Caucus and other organizations in the U.S. Supreme Court urging the Court to reject the Trump administration’s request to reinstate Executive Order 14399, which would undermine access to the ballot, potentially disenfranchising tens of millions of American voters, and bring federal interference into state elections administration.
Media reporting indicates that there are other related judicial proceedings related to this issue forthcoming that may prevent immediate widescale implementation of voting restrictions. EJS is monitoring the issue.
EJS’s work extends to other aspects of mail voting and voter protection. The Supreme Court on June 29 issued a 5-4 decision in Watson v. Republican National Committee upholding the right of states to decide whether to count ballots postmarked before or on Election Day but received after Election Day. EJS was among the amici in a brief filed in this case to ensure that Black voters and other voters of color, voters with disabilities, and millions of other Americans who mail in their ballot on time by or before Election Day will have their vote counted.
One of the first snap analyses on today’s decision is from Georgetown Law professor Steve Vladeck, who writes: “Making Sense of the Mail-in Ballots Ruling: The Supreme Court’s grant of a stay in one of the mail-in ballot cases is deeply wrong, but it’s also not the main event over whether Trump’s patently unlawful executive order can take effect.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the State of California’s intent to sue over Trump’s latest attack on mail-in ballots as well as new legislation to safeguard the electoral process in the Golden State.
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