Judge blocks Trump mail-voting order nationwide ahead of midterms

A federal judge blocked key parts of President Donald Trump's executive order overhauling mail-in voting, ruling that the executive branch has no authority to regulate elections. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston expanded an earlier injunction that had covered 23 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., extending it nationwide and barring the administration from altering ballot-mail rules less than 90 days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Trump's March order directed federal agencies to compile state-specific lists of verified U.S. citizens and instructed the Postal Service to develop rules restricting mail-in or absentee ballots to voters enrolled on those approved lists. Talwani ruled that the Constitution gives states primary authority over congressional election procedures, with only Congress — not the president — empowered to override those rules.

Talwani wrote that the order was "causing confusion and threatening both increasing chaos and an erosion of trust in our democracy," and said an injunction was necessary to stop the government from "changing election rules on the eve of the election." The ruling still allows the Postal Service to issue nonbinding guidance on ballot-envelope design and tracking.

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to revive the restrictions. The ruling adds to a string of legal setbacks for the administration's election agenda; separate reporting found it has lost 21 consecutive lawsuits seeking detailed state voter rolls, though it has appealed many of those decisions.

Read the full story at newsbreak.com.