MADISON, Wis. – Today, on a vote of 7-2, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed to remain in effect a lower court ruling halting a proposed U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rule that sought, shortly before critical mid-term elections in November, to grant the federal government extraordinary new authority over mail-in ballots. Law Forward filed an amicus brief with the court on September 9th, warning that the USPS rule would disenfranchise Wisconsin voters.
“As the Trump administration pushes a barrage of anti-democratic proposals ahead of the November elections, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the plain language of the U.S. Constitution to stand. Elections and election administration are properly the purview of the states and not the federal government,” said Rachel Snyder, Law Forward Policy Counsel.
“This postal rule unlawfully put the federal government in charge of who can and cannot vote by mail. The president of the United States can no more choose who votes by mail than who wins and loses elections. We are glad the court stood firm on the plain language of the Constitution and turned back this unlawful power grab,” said Marianne Oleson, Co-Executive Director EXPO Wisconsin.
Law Forward’s amicus brief, filed on behalf of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and EXPO Wisconsin, demonstrated how the proposed USPS rule would exceed the USPS’s authority, violate the separation of powers, infringe on voters’ privacy rights, and risk chaos ahead of the midterms, all in a purported effort to root out a handful (at most) of noncitizen voters who are already subject to substantial criminal penalties. If implemented, the rule would have been particularly problematic in Wisconsin due to our unique system where local officials are responsible for processing, tracking, and counting mail ballots in real time.
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“Wisconsin already has appropriate mechanisms in place to continuously verify the accuracy of its voter registration list. It does not need help from the federal government,” said Nick Ramos, Executive Director, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
