A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's injunction that halted President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at creating a federal list of eligible voters and restricting mail ballot deliveries. The decision by judges of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Saturday rejected the Trump administration's attempt to implement these mail-in voting restrictions in 23 states that had filed a lawsuit.
President Trump issued the executive order in March, directing the heads of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration to compile a "state citizenship list" of eligible voters. The order also mandated that the U.S. Postal Service deliver mail ballots exclusively to individuals on this list.
While the White House framed the proposed changes as measures to prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting, state election officials argued the order was prone to abuse and could lead to significant disruption. In response, Democratic officials from 23 states and the District of Columbia challenged the order through a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Boston.
They contended that the president's order was unconstitutional, asserting that the authority to establish election rules rests with the states and Congress, not the president. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani agreed with this assessment, issuing a halt to the order's implementation for the upcoming Nov. 3 elections, specifically within the states that brought the legal challenge.
The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.