A judge on Thursday declined an immediate block of Donald Trump’s executive order that made rules on mail-in voting more strict. The judge left room for the Democratic Party to challenge the order again after the administration implements the order.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols’ did not mention the legality of Trump’s order and his ruling does not have any affect the current voting process because the order and its rules have not been enacted by any federal agency. The order directed officials to compile a list of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state.
The order also mandated the administration to use federal data to verify voter eligibility, required the USPS to only deliver ballots to each state’s mail-in ballot list, and mandated that states keep election-related records for five years.
Trump signed the executive order just days after mailing in his ballot for elections in Florida.
The Plaintiffs, including Senator Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have held that the order stands to disenfranchise millions of the voters. But, Judge Nichols ruled that the plaintiffs acted too quickly in bringing their lawsuit.
“Given that the Executive Order does not command Plaintiffs to do anything, and that no agency has yet acted pursuant to the Order in a way that could harm Plaintiffs, they have not suffered any harm at present,” wrote Nichols. Nichols is a Trump appointee from the first term.
Trump’s order earned the suspicion of cheating and desperation, as the Republicans are fighting to maintain control of both chambers of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.
In a statement, Schumer called mail-in voting safe and that the Democrats would do all they can to preserve rights for every American voter.
