Trump suffers setback over postal voting rules ahead of US midterms

Donald Trump is not letting up. But in court, almost two months before the general elections, the US President suffered a further setback in his plan to enforce stricter postal voting rules. An appeals court in Boston rejected applications from, among others, the postal service provider (USPS). The aim of these was to lift a temporary blockade against the postal voting rules.

A lower court had ordered the temporary halt pending a decision on the appeal because it believed that the postal voting rules could be illegal.

Mail-in voting rules have become a point of contention ahead of the midterms. On November 3rd, Americans will vote on the seats in the House of Representatives and some of the seats in the Senate in the US Congress.

The Republicans hold a slim majority in both chambers and want to defend it. If Trump's party loses, he would have a much worse chance of implementing his policies in the two or so years remaining in his term of office. At the moment it looks like a defeat for Trump's camp - even if he is trying to win votes with cash gifts, among other things (more on that here).

Always new court decisions in the case

A certain legal squabble has now arisen over Trump's postal voting plan. Several courts have dealt with this, including the US Supreme Court (more here). It is unclear exactly how the dispute will play out and whether the rules will apply in the midterm elections in less than two months. Time is short; postal voting documents have already been sent out in some places.

Critics fear that confusion could arise in the states because of the unclear situation. Opponents of Trump's stricter postal voting rules criticize that it could reduce the chances for Democratic candidates. The US government argues that the new rules would make elections safer. However, documented cases of voter fraud by mail are extremely rare.

At the end of March, Trump ordered that the US Postal Service should only send postal voting documents to people who are on a voter list previously drawn up by the states. This would transform the postal service from simply delivering the voting documents to a control body in the election process.