The U.S. Supreme Court on August 3 granted an emergency stay halting an injunction that had blocked key provisions of President Trump's second elections-related executive order, allowing those provisions to take effect while litigation continues.
A coalition of 24 states and Pennsylvania, led by Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford, challenged the executive order in April. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts blocked the contested provisions in June. The Trump administration appealed, and the First Circuit declined to pause the ruling, prompting the emergency request to the Supreme Court.
The high court found the states' challenge was premature because the administration had not yet implemented the order at the time the lawsuit was filed. The decision does not determine whether the executive order is lawful.
The blocked provisions would have required the U.S. Postal Service to prohibit mailing ballots to voters not on new "enrolled" mail voter lists, directed the Department of Homeland Security to create voter eligibility lists for each state, and threatened prosecution of state election officials who provide ballots to voters deemed ineligible by the federal government.
"Presidents do not get to rewrite election laws by executive order," Ford said. "Nevada has the authority and responsibility to administer our elections in accordance with the Constitution and the laws passed by our Legislature, and we will defend that authority." The coalition intends to challenge the provisions as they are implemented.