Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. The first mail-in ballots in the country should start going out at the end of this week. It’s entirely possible that the Trump Administration’s fight over them won’t be settled for several more weeks—possibly right up to Election Day on November 3 or beyond.
The uncertainty is leaving campaign hands from both parties exasperated as they debate what to tell voters. Even the possibility that some mail-in ballots may be ignored poses very practical questions for campaigns planning out millions of dollars in spending to boost turnout. Should voters still trust mail-in ballots will still be counted?
Should they instead vote early in person if they can? Should they hold their votes until Election Day itself, just to be sure? For over a year, President Donald Trump has been laying the groundwork for the U.S.
Postal Service to take on a new role in deciding which mail-in ballots get to be counted, working off lists of citizens created by the Department of Homeland Security. It’s a process that experts predict would likely lead to the disenfranchisement of many legitimate voters. Most of them, it’s worth saying, are Democrats.
Last week, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order that amounted to a procedural and preliminary win for Trump’s plan, but other courts have stepped in to block it on merits. The result is growing confusion over how, exactly, the votes might—or might not—be counted come November. Some election experts insist that things are not as urgent as either side would have you believe.
The executive order is still illegal and still unconstitutional.” “For voters, so far, nothing has changed—and is unlikely to before Election Day,” he adds. That doesn’t mean this isn’t a problem for campaigns at the nuts-and-bolts level. Significant resources often go into encouraging voters to request a mail ballot, and then reminding them to fill it out and return it.
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