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| Voting by mail has improved voter participation in US elections. |
The US Supreme Court handed Asian American voting rights advocates a major victory on Sept 14, blocking an administration attempt to restrict mail-in ballots ahead of upcoming elections. In a 7-2 decision, the high court left a lower-court injunction in place, preventing sweeping new rules that advocates warned would cause mass confusion.
“You don’t change the rules after the game has started – especially if it means voters will lose. With this ruling, voters won, and the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration yet another loss,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Law Caucus.
“Millions of people who rely on mail-in ballots – many of whom would otherwise have a difficult time voting – will receive their ballots and be able to confidently return them.," Kohli added. "We made our opposition clear because no eligible voter should lose their voice because of a bureaucratic mistake they had no power to prevent. Today, that threat is off the table for this election. Americans can move forward with confidence."
Only Justices Samuel Alita and Clarence Thomas, Trump loyalists, dissented. In a rare action, the other four conservative justices, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch disagreed with their colleagues and joined the liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagen and Ketanji Brown Jackson to issue the ruling.
The decision means that all 50 states can continue to use their existing processes for mail voting, which have proven for decades to be safe, secure, and reliable.
Hundreds of thousands of mail ballots are already being delivered to eligible voters, with millions more to follow this month. Many Americans rely on mail voting because disability, distance, or work or caregiving schedules make it difficult or impossible to get to their polling site in person.
With the injunction in place, USPS cannot refuse to deliver mail ballots for the November election. Nor can it require states to upload personal voter information into its new and untested online portal.
The USPS rule that has been blocked by the courts would have put into effect Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order to restrict mail voting.
FYI: For local election guidance, sample ballots, and deadlines, check the National Association of Secretaries of State portal. To verify registration guidelines or look up specific regional election board contacts, you can navigate directly to the U.S. Vote Foundation.
The injunction stems from a lawsuit filed by a coalition of nonpartisan voter service and civic organizations that includes the Asian Law Caucus (ALC), Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)—mobilized quickly to fight the restrictions.
"For Asian Americans and other voters who disproportionately rely on mail voting—including voters with disabilities and voters with limited English proficiency—this ruling was absolutely critical for securing their ability to vote,” said Ronak Patel, a staff attorney with AALDEF. “We are pleased that the Supreme Court recognized the importance of protecting access to the ballot from the blatant attempts by the Trump Administration to restrict it."
They argued that proposed changes would disproportionately harm naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, and individuals with limited English proficiency. Community leaders emphasized that Asian Americans rely heavily on vote-by-mail options to safely and accurately review their ballots at home.
View from the edge
Poll after poll indicate that the Republicans are likely to lose control of Congress in November's midterm election.
The attempt to restrict voting by mail is just one of several GOP strategies to make voting harder for minorities and immigrant communities because they tend to lean towards the Democrats.
The concern was particularly acute in the eight states where voters cast ballots almost entirely by mail: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington.
The "decision is a relief for the millions of voters who count on the mail to make their voices heard including naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, and limited English proficient voters but it should never have come to this,” said Murtaza Khwaja, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta.
“This administration keeps manufacturing uncertainty and chaos, testing how far it can go to rig the system against voters. The Supreme Court got this right: states run their own elections, not the White House. We will keep fighting alongside our partners to make sure every eligible voter can cast a ballot and trust that it counts.”
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