President Donald Trump\u2019s legal battle over mail-in voting is unlikely to affect how Penn students vote in November, but it could shape how future elections are conducted, election experts told The Daily Pennsylvanian.<\/p>\n
Trump signed an executive order<\/a> on March 31 seeking to change how federal elections and mail-in ballots are administered. The order, which would impose new requirements for envelope markings, barcodes, and ballot distribution, faces legal challenges over its expansion of presidential authority over elections.<\/p>\n According to Political Science professor Marc Meredith,\u00a0mail-in balloting \u201cshould run as it normally does\u201d during the 2026 midterm elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n The executive order \u2014 titled \u201cEnsuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections\u201d \u2014 directed the postmaster general of the United States Postal Service to initiate the rule-making process within 60 days.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is: Has Congress sufficiently given the Postal Service authority to be the place where a rule like this would develop?\u201d Meredith, whose research focuses on the political economy of American elections, said in an interview. \u201cI think courts will also be weighing \u2014 even if it has been given this authority \u2014\u00a0whether it\u2019s using that authority in a way that would significantly inhibit people\u2019s ability to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Get the DP delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n Sign Up<\/a><\/p>\n On\u00a0Aug. 11, a federal judge blocked<\/a> USPS from implementing the executive order\u2019s provisions on mail-in ballots. Nearly two weeks later, the Supreme Court intervened and concluded that the lower court had acted prematurely because USPS had not yet issued a final rule.<\/p>\n By Aug. 21, the rulemaking process was complete, and opponents of the order secured a new preliminary injunction \u2014 which the Supreme Court left in place<\/a> after finding that the federal government \u201cis unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cInevitably, I think this rule is headed for a full-on trial after the election,\u201d Meredith predicted. \u201cWe\u2019re almost certainly going to end back at the Supreme Court at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n He described mail-in voting as a \u201cgood option for people who need to use it,\u201d particularly for students who vote in a state other than Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think that if you have the capacity to vote in person, it\u2019s probably going to be a better experience than mail voting,\u201d Meredith said. \u201cIn part, I think it adds a little bit more of a social element to the process of voting, and there is always a small chance that something will go wrong with a mail-in ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n Political Science professor and elections analyst Daniel Hopkins highlighted that \u201cthis is not the sort of thing you want to procrastinate on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is real value in returning these and not even waiting until anywhere close to the deadlines,\u201d he said. \u201cAt times, the state may say that you can send it any time until a certain point, but if the postal service is unable to deliver within that time frame, then you still may risk being disenfranchised.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump \u2014 who graduated from the Wharton School in 1968 \u2014\u00a0has urged his supporters to vote by mail despite making claims that the system perpetuated fraud. Hopkins hypothesized that this was because mail-in voting is historically used by Democrats in larger numbers.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the challenges is that when one party disproportionately relies on one method of voting, then there are at least incentives for the other party to make that method of voting harder,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In Pennsylvania, applications for mail-in ballots \u2014 which may be requested by any voter without an excuse \u2014\u00a0must be submitted<\/a> by 5 p.m. on Oct. 27.<\/p>\n Staff reporters Ayesha Faruki, Emily Kohler, Meredith Rinaldi, and Nandita Shetty contributed reporting.<\/p>\n