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Pennsylvania is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the Trump administration from imposing new federal requirements on mail voting just three months before the November midterm election.
Gov. Josh Shapiro joined a coalition of states Monday in opposing the administration’s emergency request to revive portions of an executive order requiring the U.S. Postal Service and Department of Homeland Security to take a larger role in verifying voter eligibility and handling mail ballots.
The states called it an “unprecedented, legally indefensible voter-verification and ballot-interception program” that would force states to “redesign their ballot mail” just weeks before the midterm election.
“Preparation for the general election is well underway, including having already purchased envelopes,” said Seth Bluestein, a Republican Philadelphia City Commissioner, who said he was speaking for himself and not the commission. “That includes having already purchased thousands of envelopes for mail ballot voters. So the executive order would definitely add uncertainty to the electoral process, and a lot of that confusion could inevitably cause errors that would result in disenfranchising eligible voters.”
The issue stems from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump to create a federal system for verifying voter citizenship and regulating the delivery of mail ballots in federal elections. The order directs federal agencies to create state-by-state lists of people confirmed to be U.S. citizens and calls for new Postal Service rules governing mail ballots in federal elections. Under the order, states would provide USPS with lists of eligible mail voters, and the agency could refuse to transmit ballots associated with people who do not appear on those lists.
It also called for federally approved ballot envelopes with unique tracking barcodes, prioritizes investigations of officials and others who distribute ballots to people deemed ineligible, and allows federal funding to be withheld from noncompliant states.