North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson has joined attorneys general from 22 states, the District of Columbia, and the governor of Pennsylvania in a lawsuit targeting restrictions on mail-in voting.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March that includes three provisions.
The first instructs the Department of Homeland Security to come up with lists of US citizens in each state and send the lists to states at least 60 days before a federal election. The second involves having the US attorney general prioritize prosecution of state and local officials who may issue ballots to ineligible voters. Finally, the third requires states to give the US Postal Service a list of voters the states intend to send mail-in ballots to, and prohibits USPS from mailing ballots to voters who are not on the lists of “enrolled” voters that the USPS will create.
In a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling on Monday, the first two provisions in the order will be allowed to proceed, while the third is on hold due to a separate ruling.
Jackson and the other plaintiffs argue that the EO conflicts with provisions in the Constitution that give states the power to determine voter eligibility and to set the “Times, Places, and Manner” of holding congressional elections.
“The Constitution is clear on this: The states have the authority over elections, not the Postal Service,” Jackson said in a press release. “Not only is this last-minute rule change against the law, but it threatens North Carolinians’ voting rights and imposes a whole new process right before an election. We’re taking the Postal Service to court to stop it.”
Jackson argued that the change comes only days before North Carolina county boards of elections will begin sending out ballots for the midterm elections and that eligible voters won’t receive lawfully requested absentee ballots in time to be returned and counted.
“In North Carolina, hundreds of thousands of eligible citizens vote in midterm elections by mail,” he said. “Those voters include elderly people, people with disabilities, people who are recovering from natural disasters like Hurricane Helene, and servicemembers who are stationed overseas. With mail-in ballots required to go out to eligible voters starting on Sept. 4, the new requirements risk their ability to receive their ballot in time for the upcoming election.”
Jackson stressed that the new rule requires states to enroll nearly all mail-in voters in an electronic portal, something that USPS has never used before and neither its employees nor elections officials have been trained on it. The rule also requires county boards of elections to provide USPS with the barcodes for each voter’s ballot envelope, and if election officials try to mail ballots to voters whose barcode USPS cannot find in the portal, USPS will refuse to mail those ballots.
He said it will be nearly impossible for county election bards to implement the changes within the next week and is asking the court to declare the rule unlawful and permanently stop it from being implemented and enforced, and is also asking for a temporary restraining order.
The attorney general said this is the next step in his ongoing lawsuit challenging the president’s executive order.
In addition to the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, other states attorneys general joining North Carolina in the lawsuit include California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
