By Amy Howe - Scotus Blog - Co-founder and reporter
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to allow the U.S. Postal Service to carry out parts of a new rule on mail-in voting. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices left in place a ruling by a federal judge in Boston that bars the USPS from implementing aspects of the rule.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh penned a one-paragraph concurrence in which he agreed with the decision to deny the government’s request. He suggested that, in his view, the Postal Service might have the power to issue the rule. But even if it does, he continued, election officials “do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before” the November elections.
Justice Samuel Alito dissented from the court’s ruling, in an opinion joined by Justice Clarence Thomas. He argued that some of the challengers in the dispute do not have a legal right to sue, known as standing, “while the remainder are pursuing a claim that this Court has recently called a ‘Hail Mary pass’ that ‘rarely succeeds.’”
The court’s order comes less than two months before the midterm elections in November. At least two states – North Carolina and Alabama – have already begun to send out ballots by mail.
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