Attorney General Dan Rayfield issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s push to put new restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterms. The Court kept in place a lower court’s ruling that blocked a U.S. Postal Service rule requiring states to meet new ballot design and voter-list requirements before ballots could be mailed.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a win for Oregon voters, and a win for free and fair elections. The U.S. Constitution is clear: no president has the authority to interfere with our elections, and today the Supreme Court affirmed that basic fact. Donald Trump will not be able to use the United States Postal Service to stand between you and your ballot.
“What does this mean for Oregon voters? It means we’ll continue to vote in November just like we have for decades, with a Vote By Mail system that is safe, secure, and accurate. We can expect that Trump will continue looking for ways to meddle with our elections, and we’ll continue blocking him. We must all remain vigilant, and we’ll keep fighting to ensure that no one—not even the president—can interfere with our right to vote.”
AG Rayfield and a coalition of 23 states, the District of Columbia, and the Governor of Pennsylvania have filed a lawsuit to block this rule from ever taking effect. The lawsuit argues that USPS’s rule violates the Constitution, which makes clear that states have the primary authority to administer elections, and if implemented, would upend successful, longstanding vote-by-mail procedures. The lawsuit also argues the rule is inconsistent with USPS’s governing statutes, ignores USPS’s procedural requirements, violates the Privacy Act, and is inconsistent with federal voting rights law.
