A federal judge has allowed President Donald Trump’s executive order to restrict mail-in voting to stand for now, delivering a temporary setback to Democrats and voting rights groups who say it could disenfranchise millions of voters.
In the ruling issued late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols wrote that the plaintiffs — the NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens — cannot claim irreparable harm because there has been no significant action taken to implement the order yet.
The March executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to use Social Security data to compile lists of citizens eligible to vote in each state. The U.S. Postal Service would then only deliver mail-in ballots to voters on the DHS list.
The plaintiffs had argued that they would be “harmed by the President’s unlawful attempts to upturn the electoral playing field in his own favor and against political rivals” and urged Nichols to issue a preliminary injunction.
“But the Postal Service has not yet issued a notice of proposed rulemaking or responded to comments it might receive, let alone adopted a final rule,” Nichols, a Trump appointee, wrote in his ruling, adding, “The Order does not mandate any action by a State once a List has been transmitted to it. At this time, no such Lists have been created, nor has any of the ‘infrastructure’ for compilation or transmission of the Lists been established.”
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Nichols acknowledged that such actions could happen down the line and said plaintiffs can bring their arguments again “if and when” they happen.
“Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted,” he wrote.
Nichols’ ruling is likely to be appealed in the months before the midterm elections.
Trump has long criticized mail-in voting despite having himself cast ballots by mail. Ahead of the midterms, he has said that the federal government should control elections and is trying to amend election laws to favor his party.
“I tell you what, Republicans have to win this one,” he said in February about the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. “We’ll never lose a race. For 50 years — we won’t lose a race.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.