A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday blocked key portions of President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to tighten rules governing mail-in voting, ruling the president lacked constitutional authority to impose the changes on states ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction halting implementation of several provisions in Trump’s March executive order, which sought to create federal voter eligibility lists and restrict the delivery of mail ballots.
“The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” Talwani, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, wrote in her 37-page ruling. Talwani explained that “Broadly, the Constitution vests the President with ‘executive Power’ and commands him to ‘take Care’ that laws passed by Congress be faithfully executed.
The lawsuit, filed in April, was brought by a coalition of 23 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, which argued that Trump unlawfully attempted to interfere with state administration of federal elections. Talwani found that the order exceeded presidential authority and violated constitutional principles reserving election administration largely to states and Congress.
Among other provisions, Trump’s order directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile and share lists of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote using federal databases. The order also instructed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to voters appearing on approved state absentee ballot lists.
Talwani found DHS lacked the authority to create comprehensive voter lists and noted that privacy restrictions would make any federal database incomplete. She also concluded the Postal Service lacked statutory authority to impose binding regulations governing mail-in voting.
The ruling comes as a separate challenge to the executive order continues in Washington, D.C. In May, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, an appointee of Trump, declined to block the executive order, finding it was too early because the administration had not yet implemented the challenged provisions. That decision is now on appeal.
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This ruling, among other setbacks this week in court related to Trump’s election integrity policies, underscores the president’s current frustrations. On Wednesday, he delayed passing a housing and affordability bill due to Republicans’ inaction over the SAVE America Act, a key piece of legislation Trump says is needed to ensure elections in the country are free and safe from fraud or manipulation.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal Talwani’s ruling.