“Tell Me You Don’t Know Anything About Elections…”

 Professor Vladeck keeps us up to date:

The Trump administration has just filed its 37th #SCOTUS emergency application, this one seeking to put back into effect the USPS’s new rule re: mail-in ballots—even though (1) the First Circuit hasn’t denied a stay yet; & (2) Judge Talwani may shortly convert her TRO into a preliminary injunction.

Justice Jackson (as Circuit Justice for the First Circuit) has called for a response to the government’s application by Tuesday morning—but did *not* issue the immediate “administrative” stay that DOJ asked for.

There’s a lot of (baseless) chatter on the right that Justice Jackson has abused the timing of emergency applications. The fact that she called for a response by Tuesday (the end of a holiday weekend) ought to dispel that charge, at least if the people making them cared about facts.

Wisconsin and North Carolina have already mailed out ballots (the USPS rule is stayed by the TRO, which Jackson has not ruled against):

“There’s no practical way for Wisconsin clerks to comply,” said Republican Don Millis, chairman of Wisconsin’s elections board.

Millis criticized Trump's proposed policies, arguing they would “hurt the Republican turnout more than the Democratic turnout.”

Gerry Cohen, a Democrat on an elections board in North Carolina, also criticized the Postal Service's plans to receive updates on voter lists, noting his county receives about 1,500 registrations a week.

“Tell me you don’t know anything about elections without telling me you don’t know anything about elections,” he said.

The irony is, Trump is racing to build his ballroom and arch, betting the courts won’t order him to tear them down. Wisconsin and North Carolina are arguably doing the same, except they are following the law. 

And to the excuse that Trump really just wants this rule for 2028: it’s an EO. Congress can override it. And probably will.