Supreme Court permits work on Trump plan to regulate mail ballots

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 conservative ruling, allowed federal agencies to proceed with implementing new regulations on mail ballots as directed by President Trump's March executive order, but did not rule on the legality of those rules.
• California officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, condemned the ruling and announced plans to file lawsuits to block the implementation of these changes, arguing that the president lacks authority to dictate election policies.
• The new regulations involve Homeland Security compiling citizen voter lists and the Postal Service imposing new mail ballot design and processing rules, though states are not required to use these lists, and the changes remain under active litigation.
• Democratic justices dissented, emphasizing that the ruling postpones final decisions on the executive order's constitutionality and warning of potential voter confusion and interference with state election administration ahead of the November elections.
• California and other Democratic-led states maintain that election regulation is constitutionally reserved for states and Congress, not the president, and they expect courts to ultimately block Trump's executive order before the midterms.