Judge says Trump’s attack on mail voting is ‘unconstitutional,’ legal challenge can continue

Key Points:

• A federal judge in Massachusetts, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail voting, allowing the legal challenge to proceed.
• Judge Talwani described the executive order as "unconstitutional" and expressed concern that it could lead to voter disenfranchisement in the upcoming election if allowed to stand.
• The lawsuit, filed by voting rights groups led by the League of Women Voters, alleges the order imposes novel voting regulations that cause organizational and associational injuries, which the judge found credible enough to continue the case.
• The executive order requires states to send the USPS lists of voters requesting mail ballots and mandates the use of barcoded envelopes, with the Postal Service instructed to refuse delivery of ballots from unlisted voters or without barcodes.
• Talwani previously blocked the order’s implementation in 22 states and Washington D.C., citing that the President lacks authority over election regulations and that the order violates USPS obligations set by Congress; a hearing on a renewed injunction motion is scheduled for August 7.